


To See Another Day

by readertra_unicorns



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Major Original Character(s), Mystery, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Self-Insert, Transported into Fictional World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:21:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 74,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28624779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readertra_unicorns/pseuds/readertra_unicorns
Summary: Rachel is happy where she is in life. Sure there's the occasional nasty exam, but life is good. That is until she's transported into the Aligned Universe. How? Bu- what? Why, just why?Set during Prime. OC Insert. Spoilers for everything.
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to skip her background and get straight into the world, you can skip this chapter.

The sound of rain pattering outside was muffled by the closed windows around the small one story house. I looked out through the kitchen window, the one facing the back yard. The rain drops pooled and slivered down, tracing strange patterns. The rain seemed to emit with it a cool and relaxing atmosphere.

I sighed.

"Is somfin' burning Rachie?" Asked Charoline.

My eyes opened wide as I was jolted out of my reverie. Remembering the pot of chili on the stove, I rushed back to the pan, praying it was still okay.

"Shoot!" I cried out as I turned off the stove and mixed the chili.

It was burnt at the bottom of the pan, much to my chagrin. I took the wooden spoon I had set to the side and tasted a sample of the chili. My eyes watered and I opened my mouth to let the steam release from my mouth.

"Hunmt!" I cried as I fanned my mouth in a poor attempt to cool the chili. I had no one to blame but myself for the pain I was experiencing. I heard a giggle from the entrance of the kitchen.

When the chili finally stopped roasting my tongue, I chewed slowly and tasted. It was okay, should have added more chili powder though. As long as I gave Carie the little nonburnt chili there was left, it would do. Yay me for another burnt meal!

"Rachie. I'm hungry," Carie complained for the hundredth time in that matter of fact way of hers once her giggling ceased.

I turned around to completely face her. The princess already had her stubborn face on. Arms crossed and big eyes ridiculously stern. A look adorable on any 4 year old. I couldn't help but smile at her. Little Carie was such a sweetheart. Lucky her, she inherited hazel eyes from Dad and Mom's dark curly brown hair. She was still wearing her frilly blue dress from when our family had gone out earlier in the day for an informal family party. In fact, Mom and Dad had stayed at Uncle Benny's house because the "adults" wanted to continue hanging out. We were home alone, and knowing my aunts and uncles, they would be smoking and playing cards until 3 am. I would have gone with them too, as some of the older cousins were over there as well, but someone had to be home with Carie. She had a strict regimination and her mood would be fussy the next day if it was ever disturbed.

"RACHIE!" Carie cried frustrated while I was lost in my thoughts. I laughed.

"Come on, sit at the table. I'll get you your bowl." I pulled out her chair and patted it. She went to sit down, and squirmed as she laid her hands on the table. She could barely reach the table, and it was a funny sight to see her stubbornly try to keep herself stretched like that. Still, she insisted not needing her “baby chair” anymore, so we were obliging until she caved. 

I gave her a small bowl, setting down her plastic spoon, and put down my own bowl on the table next to her. I then took out the crackers from the pantry and filled her sippy cup with water from the fridge. We sat at the table and began eating. God, please don't let her realize it's burnt. Just let her eat it contently!

"Make sure you blow on it, it's still hot," I warned Carie. I made sure to blow on a spoonful of my own chili before eating it this time.

My face involuntarily scrunched up. Of course I would get the burnt part. I dropped my spoon in the bowl, appetite gone, and instead leaned on my elbow to stare at Caire.

"Today was fun? Wasn't it?" I asked.

Carie look up from her concentrated blowing to smile and nod enthusiastically.

"Mmhum! Denny said she wanted to have a cousin movie night at her house! You wanna know somfin?" She leaned close whispering. "Denny said we girls might even have a sleepover!"

"Really?" I asked trying my best to keep the skepticism out of my voice. "When is this supposed to be?"

"Ummm…" Carie was concentrating."Later." She answered. Probably repeating the vague answer Denny had given her.

"Okay, maybe me and Sammy can discuss this with Denny, yeah?" I sighed internally. Denny really should stop promising these kids things she can't deliver.

I looked at her slyly.

"Or maybe you're too spoiled of a brat as it is? Maybe I should tell Mom that you can't go because you haven't been eating your greens?" I teased.

Carie shook her head as she chewed."Nuhh uh." She swallowed. "I HAVE been eating my greens, and I'm not a baby!"

"Sure, I'll just pretend I didn't see you being carried around by everyone at the party." I teased.

"I'm not a baby!" Carie scrunched up her face. I laughed and kissed her head as I got up to throw away my bowl of burnt chili. When Carie finished I sent her off to wash up. I cleaned up after, particularly struggling to scrub the burnt chili out of the pan.

The rain continued outside.

1

I glanced at the clock on my laptop and cursed. It was already midnight, the date stating 12/28/18. I clicked the last available episode of Transformers: Robots in Disguise and paused it before it played. I got up reluctantly from my warm nest of blankets I had dragged from my bed and stifled a yawn. I went over to Carie's room and leaned against the open door frame. I waited, letting the silence wade back into the room. A heavy snoring came from a bundle on a small twin sized bed.

Then I caught it.

A small bit of light escaped from the blanket.

I walked over to the bed and threw the blanket off. Sure enough was Carie scrunching her eyes and trying to hide the tablet under the sheets.

"You're not fooling me Carie." I stated. I grabbed the tablet and her eyes bolted open to glare at me.

"Sleep Carie! Go - to - sleep." I booped her nose for each word. Carie grumbled as her eyes slowly fell shut. I almost laughed. What a spoiled princess, I shake my head. I went to the door.

"I love you Carie. Sweet dreams." I said softly as I closed the door behind me.

I opened the tablet to see what Carie was doing and was pleasantly surprised to find a drawing. It was two poorly drawn stick figures (only one had half of its hair), watching a box. Outside of the box was poor handwriting. "Vrm" and "Autobots vs Deceptocons" along with a list of her favorite bots: Bumblebee (of course), Optimus (or Optamous as she spelled), and, surprisingly Rachet. I saved the drawing.

I left the tablet on the bathroom vanity and did my business. I washed up, and brushed my teeth. I pulled my hair tie out (unfortunately taking some strands with it) and combed my long brown hair. I took off my green rimmed glasses and put my night lotion on my short face. I looked at myself in the mirror and my generic brown eyes stared back. Why couldn't I have inherited hazel eyes? Life's just not fair.

Thunder sounded from outside. It was becoming quite the storm.

My mind began wandering back to Transformers as I walked back to my room, tablet in hand. To continue watching or go to sleep? Deep question. The show was very episodic, monster-of-the-week. I wanted to look up if someone had compiled a list of the more important episodes so I could skip the pointless chasing. Tomorrow (well I suppose today) was Saturday. Three day weekends are the best retreat from a busy Community College schedule, so it wasn’t like I was busy. But… I had promised Carie sometime last week we'd do something together and I had dragged Mom into promising to come along on whatever fancied Carie this time. And who knows, maybe Dad will choose to come with us.

So the answer is obviously to go to sleep…

But…

Nope. Mind made up. I was going to sleep and that was final!

...

AFTER this last episode.

Giddy I sat down ready to watch. But my laptop wasn't waking up.

"Shit," I said under my breath. Of course I forgot to plug in my charger. It seemed the universe demanded my sleep. I sighed as I threw my blanket back onto the bed and got up to turn off the light. I entered my bed, eyes already drooping. I snuggled into the blanket and my eyes closed.

Hazily I thought I could hear a hum in some far off place.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

It was cold, freezing in fact. Where was the damn blanket when you needed it?

Mnnnn.

I tried to search for it with my hands.

Something wet?

I shot up, eyes wide open.

The green damp grass was underneath me. The stars above me. Foliage surrounded behind and to the sides of me. In front of me was a dirt road and further was more trees. Darkness surrounded everything, and a cold wind blew past.

What the fuck?

"What the fuck?" I said outloud. Where? How? WHAT?!

WHAT?! THEBFUFHDHDVJSHSUSFEJSSV -:$-":$&#!¡!?

A beetle landed on my hand and I screamed. I stood up, flailing my hand to get rid of the bug, while the beetle lazily flew off. I quickly brushed myself off and checked myself over to ensure there weren't any other unwanted guests. A gust of wind blew around me and I shuddered, my teeth starting to chatter. It was cold and I was in my pajamas in the middle of God damn nowhere. I rubbed my arms and looked around.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

My eyes began to tear up.

Okay, no need to freak out. I had to stay calm. Calm. So last I remember, I went to sleep on my bed after making sure Carie went to sleep. Now I was in a forest.

A howl sounded from some distant place.

NO NEED TO FREAK OUT!

My breaths became shallow as I looked around. I was alone in a completely foreign place. The darkness seemed to close in from all sides. Where was I? How in the world did I get here? The world was suddenly spinning.

I held my stomach as I ran to my left near the trees. I fell to my knees and threw up. Once I had emptied my stomach, I clenched my eyes shut and took slow deep breaths. I wiped my tears and sniffled.

Another cold breeze flew past as I stood back up.

Prioritize Rachel. Prioritize. First it was too cold to stay outside, so I had to find a shelter. What do I have?

I shakily checked my PJ pockets and found nothing. I looked around on the ground hoping my kidnapper (or whoever) left anything _besides_ me (please be a phone). A soft blue glow grabbed my attention from the grass behind where I had woken up. I walked over to where it laid.

It was a short, glowing blue rod. I picked it up, surprised it was light as a feather. I looked around. What was this? Why was it left here, wherever "here" was?

I inspected the the rod. Lightly slapping it against my palm. It seemed to be made from a sort of metal, and was emitting a glow from it. I pointed it away from me. The glow seemed bright enough to light the ground in front of me. I hope it wasn't going to give me cancer later.

_Snap!_

I dropped the demon glowing stick. I covered my face with my arms and cowered.

…

Nothing happened.

I opened one eye to stare at the rod, than opened the other. I slowly got out of my safety huddle and looked at the rod. It had elongated, but was slowly retracting back to its smaller size. I picked it up again and looked at the retracting end. It was bizarre, because the rod seemed to dissolve into itself. There was no opening or slot to retract the extension into. Oh forget it! It was cold and I needed to find help asap. I could worry about the creepy, weird, demon stick later.

I held out the rod again, and it snapped into its longer version (this time I didn't drop it). I started towards the dirt road, impromptu flashlight in front of me to ward off both the darkness and any would-be-attackers with it's ethereal blue glow.

… Or more likely I'd throw it at the first thing that tries to attack me.

I couldn't see any tell tale sign of a city, so I randomly picked to go right. You can't go wrong with right. I walked on the dirt road as quickly yet carefully as I could, not wanting to damage my bare feet.

"Hello? Anyone there? I need help!" I yelled out . I kept going occasionally repeating my call. What felt like 30 minutes passed.

"Hello?"

A small speck of light appeared in the distance. I almost cried in relief. Yes! A person! Please be a good person who won't murder me and toss my body into a river! Please, please, please!

One light became two and the sound of a car speeding could be heard.

A car! YES!

I stood to the side of the road and began waving my hands.

"Hey! Over here! Could you please stop!" I yelled out.

As the car sped closer I realized there were two cars! I repeated myself when both cars were within hearing range.

"Hey!" I yelled out.

Both cars sped right past me.

I quickly turned around and took a few steps towards the direction they had gone in desperation.

"HEY! I KNOW YOU SAW ME! Jerks!" I screamed as I kicked the dirt in frustration, completely forgetting my bare toes. I shook my fist angrily in their direction. UGH! Whatever!

I turned back around and continued down the road angrily and with a slight limp.

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

Calm down Rachel. Maybe they were in a rush or maybe they didn't see me. It sucked but maybe them passing through means this road will have more visitors? Or maybe they were my last hope of civilization and a wild pack of wolves will devour me. My body not found until some archaeologist uncovered them hunting for what happened to the missing Rachel Evensbrough in a TV special or something. Think comforting thoughts, comforting, not morbid worse case scenarios.

Ahead of me three more lights appeared, and they were approaching twice as fast as those other cars had. I knew it was dumb, but I stepped onto the road and started to wave my hands.

"HEY!" I screamed.

I watched in in paralyzing fear as the vehicles skidded to a screeching halt moments before crashing into me. My heart pounded and my shaking became far, far worse. I think I heard a slur of mumbled curses from within.

That actually worked? Barely, but apparently so.

"Move out of the way! We're in a rush!" The girl on the blue motorcycle yelled. I scowled, fear morphing into irritation a bit too quickly. Their headlights made it difficult to see properly, and I squinted and shielded my eyes. Realizing the brightness, the one in the car turned down their brightness, allowing me to put down my arms and for my eyes to readjust.

"Look, I just need help! I'm sorry, I know that was reckless, but I was just wondering if I could use one of your phones to call the police!" I stood my ground.

"We didn't bring our phones-" she grumbled out. I cut her off.

"Then could you at least tell me which direction the closest town is?" I begged.

The girl was about to reply when she suddenly looked at the yellow chevy with a black stripe, then turned back to me, this time looking at me up and down.

"Did you come from that direction?" she pointed the way I had come from.

I paused.

"Why?" I cautiously responded. My mom made sure I was suspicious of strangers! I'm not going to get mugged, not that these people looked like they would, they actually seemed pretty well off to afford such vehicles. Not that I knew anything about cars. Not to mention I had nothing of worth on me, I was in my freaking PJs.

"Look, did you or did you not come from that direction?" She demanded.

Startled by her tone, I told the truth "Yes." I heard a loud screech coming from a distance.

The yellow car spun around, and the back seat door opened infront of me. I covered my face and coughed to dislodge the dust that had been kicked up and brought into my throat.

"Get in." She demanded. I took a step back.

"Hey! Y-you know what? Never mind! I - I can walk. You seem busy." I said nervously.

The sound of a roar was coming closer.

" **Get in."** The lady said with more force.

I didn't know if it was the force in her voice or the deafening roar of what was definitely cars, but I choose to do the dumbest thing.

I got in.

Can you blame me? I was confused and disoriented and _scared._ So I did the thing that my mom would have kicked my ass for. I got into a complete stranger's car.

Please dear God let me not regret this.

The seatbelt buckled around me immediately and the car speed forward at a speed that knocked the air out of me. I closed my eyes and clutched the seat belt for dear life. The force of the drive pushed me further into the seat. Behind me, despite the car I was in's engine being extremely loud, I could hear the roaring behind us. I slightly opened my right eye to look out the window to notice the motorcycle girl was gone.

I opened my other eye slightly to look at the front seat, and to my horror, I saw no one at the wheel.

I screamed **.**

The possessed car continued on the road, and I continued screaming until we finally stopped at some empty parking lot at a rest stop. I stopped screaming, and tried to undo the seatbelt with my shaking hands. It came undone _by itself_. I grappled with the door next, searching for the door handle when it occurred to my panicked mind that there _was no door handle_. It finally opened _by itself_ and I scrambled outside as far away as I could before my legs failed and I fell. Somehow, during all of that, I had managed to hold onto my blessed stick, so I quickly got back up and faced the yellow and black car. I pointed my trusty flashlight at it and the rod elongated.

"What the **FUCK** is happening here?!"

There was no response.

The silence loomed, and after a beat I ever so slowly let the rod to fall to my side, putting my free hand to my heart. I squeezed my eyes shut. My heart was beating a mile a minute.

I needed to calm down, rationalize this. I shouldn't have gotten into the car, but realistically this had to be one of those self driving cars. Good. I could just find an emergency phone. We were at one of those rest stops that you usually see near a highway. Usually they have those emergency phones here, right? I relaxed a little.

I took a good look at the car now that there were enough street lamps to see. It was a yellow Camaro with a black stripe down the center.

Now that I looked at it, it clicked where I'd seen that design before. It was Bumblebees design from the Transformers movie franchise and Prime. I had been watching Transformers before I went to bed. A connection.

I started laughing, quite at first but quickly growing into full blown laughter.

"Okay, okay, I get it. It's a joke, a prank." I looked around searching, "Where are the cameras?"

A screeching pierced my ears, and grappled them to stop the noise as my eyes flitted around trying to find the source.

"Cameras? If someone's filming, be sure to get my good side." An arrogant, slightly husky voice called through my muffled ears. I looked up and there was a _giant fucking robot_ casually sitting on the roof of the station building, filing his nails on the roof. Either this was a big budget prank or I had gone insane.

"This- This is a really elaborate Transformers prank… right?" I said quietly in disbelief.

A blast of hot wind pushed me down, a boom sounding just seconds later, shaking the ground I was now clinging against. I felt a heat lick around me, and when I opened my eyes, I felt a presence behind me. Slowly, hesitently, with my mind screaming at me not to, I turn around. Another robot was in front of me. Shielding me, my brain helpfully provided.

I stared into its eyes, a bright light blue, wide and innocent. I could see small lenses and gears turning. Turning. Seeing me as much as I saw him.

I broke the gaze to look at where I had been standing mere seconds ago. It was blackened and charred, flames still sputtering from the blast.

I could have easily died just now.

Bumblebee (or at least it looked like Bumblebee) was suddenly knocked to the ground by something. Metal scrapped against metal and concrete, as they pushed at each other. It wasn't until they both started rolling on the ground trying to get the upper hand on each other that I recognized the other robot. It was the one that would be later dissected by Silas in transformers prime, what was his name?

Now wasn't the time. I needed to leave or wake up or _something._ Last thing I would want is to be squished to death.

This wasn't right. This couldn't be real. It felt real, kinda. My brains a bit too hazy at the moment, I think.

"Now that's an interesting toy." The voice shocked me out of my daze. I had been just standing there, frozen, I realize. The robot that had been on the roof was now right in front of me. I slowly started to walk backwards, keeping him in my vision.

"I suggest you hand it over human," he said darkly, coming closer, opening his... claws. I looked down at the rod slowly.

Was this what they were after? I slowly looked back up at him.

"This can't be real," I said in disbelief quietly.

He must have heard it anyway, as he (it?) scoffed. "Oh, you humans always with 'it's not real' or 'I must be dreaming!'. Pathetic attempts, if you ask me, to cover your species idiocy. Though I understand the surprise, I am one to shock and awe those who first meet me." He smiled arrogantly, like he actually believed what he had just said. Smiled... with metal teeth. How does that even work? How is it smiling at all, it's face is metal?! Still, there was mockery in his words. Anger, for some reason, boiled up inside of me at that.

"No. _You don't exist. You're not real._ Autobots, Decepticons, _it's fiction_!" I hissed, denying. "This sort of thing doesn't just _happen."_ The robot paused looking confused at me. Nope. No way. Not doing this. 

The giant robot looked at me like I was crazy. I was not crazy. It was this place that was crazy. Not me.

I glared at him.

"You want this? Take it. I don't care, I want nothing to do with this." I threw the stick to the ground. It bounced off the concrete, and then rolled towards the... the robot. I didn't want to deal with giant alien robots. Nope. I want to go home, hell with everything else!

I turned around and started hobbling towards the forest, my foot now screaming at me with every step. Just then, the blue motorcycle from before came jumping from the forest. Above me, I watched as it transformed mid-air into a sleek thin robot. Each gear and blue covering shifted in a collage of movement that was too fast to follow. It rolled across the concrete, sparks flying as it snatched the rod from where I had thrown it. The red robot became furious, and took out a… a freaking _**chainsaw**_?! Nope. Nope, I'm out of here. I turned back around and continued heading towards the forest. It was at the edge, between the layer of concrete and brown dirt, that I saw the metal.

And I looked up.

And up.

And up.

To a _really_ freaking giant robot. And not just any freaking giant robot, for how could someone not recognize the design? Even with the poor lighting from the street lamps, the red and blue plating was unmistakable, or at least from what I could see.

Optimus Prime.

And he saw me. Blue eyes pierced daggers into my heart, turning, analyzing. Enemy or Ally? I suddenly felt a deep shame at giving up the rod to the Decepticon. I looked down at my feet. Still bare and sore. It suddenly occurred how strange I must have looked. A barefoot girl in her pajamas roaming with giant robots. Well, roaming's probably not the word to use, but the strangeness of it all was not lost on me.

I could still feel his eyes on me. I purposely did not meet his gaze again. I felt a little bit relieved when I felt them leave me, finally shifting back to the battle.

"Stay here." A booming voice shook me. It was deep and commanding, yet also not unkind. I realized a second later that it was addressed towards me.

Not real not real not real not real.

I responded by slightly nodding I think, and most definitely scampering to get out of his way. He stepped out from the forest onto the concrete, like a shining knight to defeat the great darkness. 

Insanity, delusional. Dream? Possibly, most likely. Makes sense.

The blue bot and the red one both had a grip on the far-more-trouble-than-it's-worth rod, which, to my surprise, had grown long enough for either of the bots to wield. They pulled it back and forward, like a dangerous game of tug of war including chainsaws and blaster fire. The ground and air rumbled with their steps and firing. Bumblebee and the bulky bot he was fighting with were squared off. Bulky had a mad grin on his face, relishing the fight, while Bumblebee was clearly getting tired. With Optimus' appearance all fighting ceased. The Autobots looked at Optimus with great relief and joy, while the Decepticons looked at Optimus with nothing but dread and surprise. The blue bot quickly kicked the red one in his center and he fell a little away from her. She quickly came to Optimus' side, crouched, blasters out and ready to fire in a moments notice, blue rod in her right hand.

"Item secured Optimus." Well, that confirmed that. Bumblebee beeped and buzzed, then he too disengaged from his fight to be at Optimus' side. Optimus for his part had his blasters out and trained on the Decepticons.

"I believe that is our cue to retreat Breakdown." the red bot said. Behind them a swirling mirage of green and white opened. Just looking at the hole seemed terribly wrong, like it was a rip in reality, something that wasn't meant to be seen like that, and I somehow began shaking even _more,_ practically vibrating. My brain was now screaming at me to _run_.

Both bots retreated into the portal and it closed behind them.

It was over.

Bumblebee chirped happily, pumping his servos in the air. Arcee grinned, and Optimus smiled lightly underneath his battle mask. Neither of his subordinates were hurt, and that was always a relief. He quickly became serious again though.

Another human had been put at risk, and a human youth at that. This information would need to be given to Agent Fowler. Unlike with their human companions Jack, Miko, and Rafael, this human had not seemed enthusiastic about the presence of the Cybertronians. When he had arrived on scene, he was able to catch up to Arcee, just as she was about to attack Knock Out, the Decepticon medic. What he caught the human say had surprised him, _"...You're not real. Autobots, Decepticons, it's fiction!_ " Was this indicative that there was a leak of information? Something about this just wasn't sitting well with the Prime. From the strange energy readings they had gone to investigate, to the appearance of this human, there was something going on here and it disturbed him that he didn't know what.

" _Optimus,"_ Arcee warned, already suspecting what her leader was thinking. "Watching over 3 human kids is tough enough. Do you really want to add one more? This situation is an unknown. Not to mention this one clearly doesn't want anything to do with us, which is fine by me."

"Yet, we cannot risk even a single human's safety. I doubt that the Decepticons will share in our respect and leave her be."

Bumblebee was beeping and whining, bringing both of their attention to him.

"What Bumblebee?" Arcee asked.

He pointed at her hands.

The artifact was gone.

And surprise, surprise, so was the human.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Running through a forest barefooted at night was not a good idea.

Neither was fast walking through a forest barefooted at night.

Walking, though painfully slow, was the safest way of travel. Of course, walking away from giant robots is almost a sure fireway to get caught again. Yet here I was, walking, as fast and carefully as I could, away from the robots, with a sore right foot. From the freaking Autobots, I reminded myself.

Auto. Bots.

The only plus side to this was that I was small enough to squeeze pass the densest parts of the forest. The parts I knew they wouldn't be able to fit through without leaving a whole lot of evidence and a huge mess. Yay for me.

The downside?

I was probably being chased by the Autobots. And if Optimus informed Agent Fowler, which he probably would do eventually, I would also have the US government on my trail.

Also I was still in my PJs and it was fucking freezing.

Mud and dirt caked my foot as I walked through the forest. I tried to step on the roots hoping that there would be less damaging, pointy things to stab at my feet that way, but alas eventually my luck ran out. I slipped on a particularly wet root and my right foot took a step back to rebalance myself, right into a particularly sharp twig. I fell into the mud, and the shock momentarily distracted my mind from the pain.

Just momentarily.

I managed to muffle my loud scream, and after the pain turned into a sharp throbbing, I looked at the damage. The twig was actually a stick, and it had pierced my skin, on the same foot I had kicked with from before. With the mud and general uncleanliness of my foot, I would be surprised if it didn't get infected.

"Shit!" I cursed softly. Great. Just great. I leaned against the tree behind me and closed my watering eyes.

I wasn't going to find home here. Not Mom or Dad or Carie. No one. I was in a fictional world. Transformers to be exact. It was impossible, but the proof had stared me in the eyes. Transformers was fiction, yet here they were, and here I was. Personally I would very much like to wake up from this nightmare.

I curled into a ball and began sobbing. I was going to die here. How would I be able to go home?

Where were ruby red slippers when you needed them?

…

I smiled a little through my tears at the thought.

"There's no place like home. There's no place like home."

I brought my head up onto my knees, my eyes still pouring tears. It was then I noticed an ethereal blue glow from the mud besides me. Curious, I dug and unearthed a glowing blue rod.

I dropped it like it was from the pits of hell itself.

There was no mistaking it. It was that stick from before, unless there were multiple of these things. How...? How did it...? But…?

This dumb thing was trouble. Big trouble.

I picked it up and threw it as far as I could.

Well that's done wi-

Something hit the back of my head.

"Ouch!" I rubbed my head where it was hit.

I glared at the offending object and was shocked it was said rod I had just clearlythrown _away_ from me, from the exact opposite direction.

It was cursed. Im clearly cursed right now. I groaned and resumed my fetal rocking position. Occasionally glancing at the demon stick to see if it was still there.

I'm crazy. I'm going crazy. Mad mad mad.

2

Once I had calmed down I began thinking.

I was in the Transformers Universe. Which one? I had no idea. But if I had to guess I'd day the Prime Universe considering the design of the bots.

How could I get home? Currently I had no idea. I needed more information before I could begin to answer this one.

What to do right now? I...I needed to find a town. But I didn't want to go back the way I had came, though that was probably the quickest way to a town. Maybe I could circle around the rest stop? That way I could avoid being in the open. I couldn't go anywhere with this injury though, or if I did, it would take me a very long time to get anywhere hobbling on one foot.

My stomach growled. Damn it. I should have eaten that chilli. Not to mention my mouth was very dry.

What to do?

I looked at the demon stick.

"I don't suppose you're good for anything other than being a flashlight?" I addressed it. Hey, I didn't know, maybe it could talk, okay? I wasn't crazy. I think… I hope. Yet.

Thinking back to traveling I looked at the rod. The glowing stick was too bright. It would draw attraction to me immediately if I traveled with it. Yet, I couldn't exactly get rid of it either. I took it into my hands and turned it this way and that. Maybe there was a dim setting?

I sighed when I found nothing.

A snap of a twig brought my attention up. I held onto the rod tighter and pointed it around me. It snapped and extended. I swept it around, trying to see if I could see what had found me. Yet, the blue glow only made the shadows around me darker. My heart pounded and my palms became sweaty despite the cold. I used the tree to help me stand on my one good foot, my eyes darting around.

"Who's there?" I whispered. Another crack sounded to my left and I turned towards it, rod shaking from my fear.

"Who's there!" I demanded louder.

Something small darted out from the bushes and past me. It passed by the light and I saw the red coat of a fox dashing past. I relaxed. It was just an animal, no need to scare easy Rachel.

"You sure spook easily."

I screamed, but quickly put my hand over my mouth. I looked around for the source of the voice desperately. Who had found me? An Autobot? Maybe a Decepticon had come back. Oh please no!

I started walking away from what I thought was the source, when I put pressure on my right food. I hissed and fell to the ground, clutching it. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I heard rustling, so I quickly picked up the rod I had just dropped, and pointed it towards the sound.

"Don't...don't come any closer. I'm warning you." I said as loudly as I was willing, which turned out to be little more than a whisper. Yet, it was still heard.

"You're hurt. You need help." It was a feminine voice.

"I'm warning you."

A sigh.

"Look, I'll come into the light. Don't unleash your fury." The last sentence was clearly mocking. But it was true, what was I going to do? Beat her from the ground with my stick until she died of laughter? The bot came into the blue glow, but all I could see were long legs with wheels attached to them. I slowly raised the stick until her long silver face which had a blue armor helmet with golden streaks on the side and a streak of gold from the middle of her helmet upwards was visible. In the center of the golden streak on her forehead was a single red jewel. On her shoulders were small wings. Gazing at her face I realized she did not look happy with me.

Arcee.

She bent down to look at my foot, and I lowered my weapon (if you could call it that).

"Looks like something got stuck into your peds."

"My foot," I corrected.

"You might need to go to one of your human medical units."

"A hospital."

I had to ask, yet at the same time didn't want to.

...

"So… robot huh?"

"What were you doing here? Just who are you?" She burst out accusingly towards me, looking at the rod in my hand. She pointed at it, "And how were you able to sneak up on me to grab it?" This I sat through looking at her blankly.

"Huh?"

"If you're working for the Decepticons I swear I'll-" She suddenly stopped and put a hand to where an ear would be on a human. Her face became stern.

"Roger that." She said, eyes not leaving me. She transformed in front of me, gears and metal pieces shifting until she became the same blue motorcycle from before.

"You have two choices kid. You can get on willingly or you can walk back to the others." She vroomed a little close for comfort. "Either way you're coming with us." She said like it was something she didn't like.

"No." I said. "I'm going to the nearest town and getting far, _far_ away from this."

A smugness rolled off of her, which surprised me. I didn't realize motorcycles could give off a smug vibe.

"Well, it just so happens the closest town to here is about, say 2 days away walking."

"You're lying." I whined. I hated to even think it, but she had a point either way. I couldn't walk well, meaning I was stuck here unless I went with her. None of this was ideal, but at least...

I smiled the sweetest evil smile I could manage.

"Thank you for the offer! I'm just covered in mud."

3

Arcee was definitely speeding. And through a forest. With lots of trees.

It was like a scary roller coaster ride except it was real, dodging trees at the last second.

I screamed.

A lot.

"Would you be quiet for even 5 clicks?!" She yelled at me annoyed. I couldn't tell if she was annoyed because of the screaming or the mud I was getting all over her.

After a little while of dodging trees at the last second and me screaming at the top of my lungs with my eyes shut and holding onto Arcee for dear life, we came to a stop.

It was a large open field. A slight breeze whispered through the grass, and a single cow mooed in the distance from a farm on a hill awhile away. Clouds covered the few rays of moonlight creating thicker shadows. From this, I looked up to see two pairs of blue eyes staring at me.

Arcee dumped me off of her unceremoniously and transformed. Ouch. She brushed herself off and attempted to remove the mud, grumbling all the while under her breathe. My attention was brought back to the biggest bot when he began to speak.

"I am sure you have many questions, as we have for you, but I would ask that they wait until we are in a more secure location. The Decepticons may yet come back." A deep voice came from the bot. I couldn't see him well, as he was shadowed in the darkness, I could only make out his outline and blue eyes. Arcee gave the large bot… okay, I can admit, Optimus freaking Prime, the blue rod, which to my fascination had elongated and thickened in Arcee's hand. Optimus did what Arcee had done earlier and place fingers where ears would be on a human. He didn't speak though. Or, at least if he was I couldn't hear.

I was once again reminded just how small I was in comparison to them when the cheerful yellow Bumble-bot crouched down and buzzed at me, pointing at my damaged foot. Crouched, my height only reached about his knees

"I'm assuming your asking about my foot. It's fine." I replied terse. His low wine in response almost made me feel guilty. Almost.

I was tired, I was dirty, and at this point there was no denying it: I was crazy.

And I think I'm okay with that.

I sighed. What a night.

A strong shiver pulled down my spine and the hairs on my arms stood up suddenly.

A bright flash appeared in front of Optimus that swirled open into a swirling vortex of green, blue, and purple. A gust of wind poured out past us, and the tree leaves behind us rustled. My eyes were transfixed on the bright swirl of colors. When the Decepticons fled, I briefly saw the bridge open, but it had closed fairly quickly after them, not to mention I wasn't this close to it. A gut instinct of seeing something both hauntingly wrong and beautiful mixed within me, like watching the dying light of a distant star, or the darkness of a black hole.

"Can you walk?" Arcee asked taking me out of my trance. She asked a little bit too hopefully in my opinion. I tried to put the slightest pressure on my right foot only to be rewarded with a sharp stab of pain. I shook my head.

"I don't think so."

"I'm not an expert, but it looks pretty bad." Arcee commented. Great, if even an alien robot could tell it was bad, that means it must be _really_ bad.

They were all looking at me. Of course they were looking at me, but it was still unnerving. On the other hand, Optimus was done talking, or communicating with whoever about whatever (probably involving me).

"So...uh...where does the…" I pointed towards the groundbridge, and attempted to choose my words carefully.

All I say and do, shall and will be used against me.

"The...fancy portal lead to?" Wise words Rachel. Give me an award in eloquence.

"You will be taken to what you humans call a hospital, where you may be treated for your injury." Optimus said. Damn, everything he said **did** sound epic.

I nodded, satisfied with the plan. Bumblebee transformed into his yellow camaro and the passenger door opened.

I'm just done at this point, I thought as I climbed into the car...bot. Whatever.

As soon as I got in and put on the seatbelt we started moving towards entering the groundbridge. Yet, the call for sleep demanded my attention, and the swirling colors on the outside were the same as I had seen, only muted due to Bee's dark tinted windows. I was strangely tired and drained. With the amount of adrenaline that must have poured into my system, I shouldn't be feeling this weary. Even if this was the post-adrenaline crash, which I'm pretty sure wouldn't be right considering my injury, I felt extremely weak.

I couldn't help it when my eyes shut and I fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Note: Welcome, and hello!  
> Hello, this is a story I originally posted on fanfiction.net, but as I am going back into it after 2 years I wanted to also post it here. It's my first work, and the quality of the work varies greatly depending on how much time I originally spent on editing it. Nevertheless, I decided to also keep the original Notes I posted with each chapter. Only Chapter 20 is recent. Enjoy! 
> 
> I've had this story written for awhile, and I finally decided to post my first fanfic! I'll be frank, it's going to be long, so please come back to check up on new chapters. No set schedule yet for posting, but with spring break coming up, I'll try to get a lot of chapters done.
> 
> Comments appreciated.
> 
> Also note: I do not own Transformers. Rachel is mine, she's about it :/


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

My aching head was what woke me up. Or was it that I woke up and my headache began? Either way, it was not pleasant coming back into the world. My bleary eyes opened slowly.

I heard a gasp from my right and the sound of an object falling.

My head snapped in that direction, fear already working in my mind, only to see a young women with short brown hair and blue surprised eyes. She was wearing simple teal scrubs, and had an identification card hanging onto her right shirt pocket. The identification card had her picture, the name Sylvia Panuchan in block black letters, and, at the top of the card, was labeled Jasper Hospital.

Hospital.

I looked around the room. It was small, simple, and mostly white. There was a window to my left with drawn blue curtains, and a basic plastic chair in the corner. On the far left of the wall was an unopened wooden door, another door was on the opposite wall to my right. I was laying on a standard hospital bed with white sheets, only my feet sticking out. My right foot was swaddled in bandage, and when I tried to move I was rewarded with pain.

"Oh no sweetheart, the doctors just did surgery on your foot, that stick they pulled out was half way through it! You need rest." The nurse said after coming out of her surprise. She had a light southern accent. I looked at her confused.

"Stick?"

She suddenly looked concerned.

"Do you remember anything that happened? Who you are? Anything you could provide would be of help to us. I can tell you where you are right now if you think that'd help jog anything?"

My throat was dry and the sterile hospital air filled my lungs. My head was pounding. I moved my hands to rub the sleep out of my eyes and I noticed that I was now wearing a basic thin blue hospital gown under the sheets.

"What happened?" I repeated her question, my mind turning. "… I think I need some time to think, I don't remember right now...but where is this?" I managed to croak out. A hospital in Jasper? Nevada? No that couldn't be right, I lived in Texas.

"You were rushed into the ER unconscious early this morning, covered in mud and with that stick in your foot," She bent down to pick up the clipboard she had dropped and continued. "You're in Jasper, Nevada," the nurse said confirming my suspicion. She stood back up and came closer to me.

"I'm just gonna check your vitals now hun," she informed me. She took an electronic thermometer out to take my temperature across my forehead, recorded it, then hooked up a blood pressure machine to me and told me to relax.

"Nevada huh?" I asked incredulously.

"Do you remember where you're from?" She asked as she recorded my blood pressure and began removing the machine. She then began checking my eyes. "Follow this pen please," she asked as she moved it left and right.

"Texas, near Houston." I replied finally when she was satisfied that my sight was a-okay. She smiled.

"I'm originally from Texas myself. That's quite a bit away though, what brought you to Nevada?" That was the question wasn't it? What was I doing here when I should be in Texas? Heck, I didn't even own my own car, so I had to of come with _someone_ to get here.

Seeing me struggle with the question, the nurse moved on to a different subject.

"Don't worry 'bout it, it'll come back to ya eventually. How 'bout some food? You must be starvin'." I nodded.

"Water?" I asked.

"Sure thing hun."

She took a pitcher that was on a night stand next to the bed and filled a paper cup with the liquid. I took it from her with a quite thanks and attempted to have _some_ self control by not just downing the whole contents in one gulp. When I finished, I didn't even have to ask before she refilled the cup. This one I took my time sipping. I reread her tag, as her name had already slipped my mind: Sylvia Panuchan. Nurse Panuchan.

"Is there anything you'd like from the cafeteria in particular?" She handed me a menu pamphlet. "Lunch is open right now, so anything in that section."

I opened the pamphlet to the lunch section.

"Anything here?" I made sure.

"Yep! You're not on any required diet, so choose whatever you feel you can handle right now."

My eyes traveled down the list. I didn't know how to feel that they offered bacon hamburgers at a hospital. I guess at the end of the day it came down to what sells.

"I'll have a ceasar salad and fruit." I felt like if I ate anything heavy, I'd throw it right back up again.

An idea wiggled into my mind.

"Could I also use a phone?" I asked. She smiled brightly at that.

"Sure thing! We'll trade. Your name for the phone," she grinned teasingly. I smiled.

"Rachel. Rachel Evensbrough."

Satisfied, she took an older looking phone that was hidden in a corner behind her, and placed it within my reach. She told me how to use it to call outside the hospital before she left the room using the door on the right wall. As she opened the door to leave I saw the busy hustle of doctors and nurses going to and fro.

The door clicked shut behind her and I was alone.

I glared at my bandaged foot.

That dream I had couldn't have been real. My mind must have mixed fiction with reality, and in my panic I must have ended up hallucinating. That was actually possible. That or my kidnapper drugged me and left me for some reason. I then must have tried to find help, but accidentally hurt myself on the way.

One thing I knew for sure now was that not everything last night had been a dream. The pain I had felt from moving my foot was all too real. Though, how much of what my mind was telling me was true had yet to be determined.

I looked at the faded black phone. It was one of those corded ones with silver buttons.

There was one way of knowing for sure if I was losing my mind.

I picked up the phone and dialed my moms number.

" _We're sorry. The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected or is no longer available._ " I ended the call and tried again. A knot building in my chest.

" _We're sorry. The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected-_ "

I messed up the number again. That was it, yeah.

" _We're sorr-_ " I put the phone back onto the reviver, ending the call. She must have forgotten to pay the phone bill this month. That's fine, it happens. My dad's number then.

It rang.

And rang.

And rang

"Hello?" A foreign voice finally came from the speaker. The knot deepened.

"Hello?" The voice repeated when I didn't immediately answer.

"He-hello? Hi, yes. Is Robert Evensbrough available?" I managed to sputter out before the man on the other end hung up. It must have been the wrong number or something got switched up.

"Robert? I'm afraid he passed away three years ago."

It was like a ton of bricks hit me in the gut.

No.

No way. I- I misdialed. His phone got lost, _anything_ but that. Tears started building in my eyes.

Three years? No way. I had seen him just yesterday. Or what to me felt like just yesterday.

"You're speaking to his son though, I take care of any of his leftover business."

A shiver dragged down my spine.

There were many thing in life that can be rationalized. Heck, our brain rationalizes so much, it's ridiculous how often we place meaning on things that never had any. But this?

I didn't have any brothers.

I slammed the phone back onto the receiver and stared at it.

I…

I had no words.

I was in another universe.

Of course, most people wouldn't jump to that conclusion after just two strange phone calls, but my parents always picked up. They sure as hell would have noticed my absence if i'd been kidnapped, and would have most _definitely_ not given up after just three years. That's not even mentioning the facts that my mom had already hit menopause, meaning there was no way I could of had a brother I just missed being born in the meantime, and anyway that male on the other line had clearly sounded like a full grown adult. I know, I know, the option of, 'dad cheated on mom!' was plausible, but I _know_ dad and he _loved_ mom more than anything in this world. He would _never_ in a _million years_ cheat on her.

This is all assuming it _has_ been three years since I was last home, which I wasn't entirely convinced of. I needed to know the date.

Still, the possibilities opened in my mind.

If I really was in the Transformers Universe (and a BIG **if** ) the implications would be huge. It would mean that the multiverse theory was correct, for if there were an infinite number of universes, as ridiculous as it sounded, that means there had to be one where the fictional Transformers Universe was real.

Did that entail that not only was I from an alternate reality, but that I knew the future here as well? And if I did, does that mean our creations and stories are just us acquiring the history of real places across dimensions, like peeking behind a dimensional curtain? If I created an original story right now, would I have created a new universe, or would that universe have always existed, and I am just now tapping into it?

And, food for thought, if I do know the future here, just how responsible does that make me to all the ills that happen if I don't change anything?

I needed access to the internet. Then I could know for absolute certain if it was all true, for how could an entire beloved franchise disappear from the internet?

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" I said. It hadn't felt long enough for the Nurse to have gotten the food and come back up, unless this facility was just that efficient.

The door opened and Nurse Panuchan came inside, pulling along a heavy cart behind her while another nurse helped her deliver the lunch orders to the correct patients. Nurse Panuchan came inside and placed the tray of food on the table by me. She was carrying a clipboard which she set down as well.

"That everything you wanted?" She asked. I looked at the food and nodded. A cup of fruit and a ceasar salad.

"Yep."

"I have some forms here that I'd like you to fill. Just put as much info as you can into it." She indicated to the forms and pulled out a pen to place it next to the papers. I quickly glanced at them and noticed the date had already been put in thankfully. It was still February the 28th, thank God. At least I can put that out of my mind.

"Alright, well if you need anything else or have any questions, just push this button here," she pointed at a remote for the bed that I hadn't realized was there. It had an array of options to change the elevation of the bed. The very last button on the remote had the figure of a person with a medic hat. She then turned to leave.

When she got to the door frame though, Nurse Panuchan turned around to address me.

"Oh! And there will be law enforcement coming in shortly. No need to worry hun, they're just gonna ask some questions. Police is real friendly around these parts. You just answer the best you can." She smiled at me, then left the room to complete her other tasks.

Shit. I needed a cover story and fast.

Or should I tell the truth? Minus my conjectures of course, no need to talk about the stuff with alternate realities and maybe knowing the future. That was research I needed to look into myself.

Nope. No way. If I told the truth I'd go straight into an asylum, and to be frank my story was ridiculous. I could imagine how the conversation would go:

I just woke up in the middle of freaking nowhere, only for some fictional giant alien robots to come save me from the Decepticons who were- Who are the Decepticons? Well _they're_ the fictional alien robot villains who are trying take over Earth. Then there's the Autobots, the ones who saved me, they're the _good_ fictional alien robots, but I was running away from them-

Nope. Too much of a headache.

I took a fork off of the food tray and started stabbing into the bowl of fruit and shoving said fruit into my mouth.

Okay than. I'd say I woke up in the middle of nowhere, and that I didn't know how I got there. I'd say I began hallucinating, seeing things, and that it caused me to become scarred and so I ran into the forest where I accidently hurt myself. After that I woke up here.

No Autobots. No Decepticons.

Man eating feels so good, I'm so happy to have food in my stomach. My headache was calming down now.

I took the salad off of the table and onto my lap as I stabbed it and put the lettuce into my mouth. I laid back into the bed and stared at the ceiling while I chewed.

Pushing the Where out of my mind, the How was a looming question, as in how did I get here? I was sleeping in bed, at home, then whoosh? Welcome to your new reality?

And was it me or was this bed really uncomfortable?

I set the salad back onto the table, and ever so carefully scooted forward, trying my best not to move my foot. I twisted slightly around to take the pillow I had been laying on to fluff it. I stared.

Behind the pillow was the stick.

You know. The stick. The rod thing. The blue glowy stick. The stick that, if my memories were worth anything, I'm pretty sure was given to Optimus. The rod that the Decepticons _and_ the Autobots wanted. That stick.

I didn't want to touch it. I didn't want to see it. Yet, just rationally speaking here, I knew it wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

I grabbed it carefully and turned back around, placing the pillow back behind me.

The rod's length was about two feet and its width about one and a half inches. It was completely smooth with no bumps or ridges and was clean despite everything that had happened to it last night. It was slightly cool against my fingers, and felt like it was made from some kind of thick metal, yet it was light as a feather. Even though the room was well lit, the rods own blue light was still discernible.

It was like nothing I'd ever seen.

...Is what I would have said before all of this. After meeting fictional alien robots, the strange becomes quite mundane.

The rod was the only clue I had to how I maybe got here, as it was there when I first woke up. And now I guess it'll always be here when I wake up. Just perfect.

There was a knock on the door.

Shit. What do I do with this thing?!

I shoved the rod under the sheets.

"Co-come in!" I said a bit nervous now. What if someone found me with it? I didn't have a cover story for this! Maybe - maybe it's a new toy! Or a valuable family heirloom? That worked in the Bay movies.

I plastered a smile onto my face as the door opened slightly. Nurse Panuchan popped her head in.

"The people who came to see you are here." She looked nervous. The smile left me immediately as I tried searching her face to see if I could figure out what was making her suddenly all nervous.

"The police officers?" I asked cautiously.

She looked apologetic as she opened the door completely, revealing two men in black suits and red ties. One was a white middle-aged male with a chiseled, flawless face. He had brown hair and blue eyes, as well as a tall lean build. In his right hand he was carrying a briefcase.

The other man I recognized almost immediately.

"I'm sorry if there was some kind of confusion. We'll be dealing with your case, Ms. Evensbrough is it?" The brown haired man came over to me and offered his hand.

"I'm Agent Cauley," he said as I shook his hand and stared at him.

"And this is Agent Fowler." Agent Cauley gestured to the pot-bellied, black man. Fowler fixed his tie and glared at me. He glared at me looking ready to grill me until I was barbecue.

"We're from the Pentagon."

The government was here. Of course the government was here. No wait, why was the government here? If Agent Fowler was _real_ and _here_ then that meant…

"Are you feeling alright Ms. Evensbrough? You don't look so well."

"Yeah, well go through what I did, the way I did, and that'll happen to you." I snapped at him. Everything felt so fast. Too fast. Where was time when you needed it?

"That's what we're here for. We would like to hear what you believe happened last night. It's imperative we get as much information as possible if we are to help you in any way." He said sympathetically.

Yeah? Well wait in line.

"I hope you don't mind if I take a seat?" He asked flashing a perfect smile. I shook my head, and he took the plastic chair from the corner and pulled it close enough to the bed to hear me, but not so close it was uncomfortable. Fowler, I guess, choose to lean against the wall in front of me.

"I'll be going now, don't hesitate to call if you need anything sweetheart." Nurse Panuchan said. Her eyes were filled with concern. I guess it wasn't everyday the Pentagon stops by, so it wasn't surprising she was concerned.

"Okay, thank you Nurse Panuchan," I replied trying to convey that everything was fine, and there was nothing to be concerned about.

Now whether or not that was true had yet to be determined.

The Nurse shut the door behind her as she left.

And then there was three.

"Now, I don't want you to feel like we're ganging up on you. We're just looking into if what happened last night might be of interest to us in another case we're following." He said, breaking the silence.

Oh really? _Another_ case?

I needed to calm down. This was an opportunity to get to the bottom of this. This was the point bank conversation I needed to face right now. Still, I didn't want to give too much away. No fiction. No alternate universe theory.

It was time to use my junior high school theatre training to good use.

"Of course Agent. Ask away, and I'll provide, though I doubt it'll help much."

He smiled at me again and I found it creepy.

"Great! Let's start with some simple questions then." He took out a folder and a pen from his briefcase. "You're full legal name?"

"Rachel Abigail Evensbrough." I even spelled it out for him.

"Date of birth and age? "

"October 12, 1999. I'm 18." There was a slight pause, he looked up and raised an eyebrow, but in searching my face, I guess he saw I wasn't lying, so he continued.

"Sex?"

"Female."

As Agent Cauley wrote down his notes and continued his questions, I struggled not to stare at Agent Fowler. Act normal Rachel. Act _normal_. I could feel Fowler's glare on me.

"Well, that all seems to be in order," Cauley said finally. "Do you think you could tell us what happened? You can start from anywhere you feel comfortable with."

Okay, you can do this Rachel. You can do this.

"I don't understand what happened much either I'll be frank." I didn't. I don't. "I go to sleep, at home, in my bed. Next thing you know, I wake up, I'm in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night. Just like that." I snapped my fingers to demonstrate how quick it felt for me. Both Agents were listening intently.

"No phone. No idea where I am. Heck I don't even have shoes! You can see where that got me." I gestured to my bandaged foot. "So I go walking, trying to find the nearest town or person or _anything_." I laughed. This was the make it or break it moment.

"Here's where it gets weird," I shook my head in disbelief. "I started hallucinating."

"Hallucinating?" Agent Cauley asked. "What of?" He said this in a manner that suggested he was just curious or he found it funny. But I knew better. He was testing me.

I rubbed my arms, and shrugged.

"Does it matter? Point is while I was in lala land I probably got myself hurt, passed out, and someone was kind enough to get me to a hospital." I deflected.

"So you were hallucinating something. Did you have any other symptoms? Nausea, Dizziness?"

"Yep. Nausea, dizziness, disorientation. I had the whole works." I took a deep breath and let it out through my nose.

"It sounds like you were drugged."

"And kidnapped. It's what I've concluded. How else could I have gotten from Houston to Nevada with no memory of it? And I don't do drugs, before you ask." I defended myself.

"I'm curious about these _hallucinations_. What makes you so sure you were hallucinating?" Fowler suddenly spoke up to my suprise. It was strange he sounded the exact same as he did in the show. You'd expect some sort of difference. Even the way he said 'hallucinations' was in that familiar faux-ignorance tone. Reminded me of the time he was captured by the Decepticons and feigned ignorance of the Autobots in Starscream's interrogations. I hoped he would take what I was saying at face value.

"Don't laugh." I said embarrassed. Neither of their expressions changed, so I continued. I ran my right hand through my hair and looked at Agent Fowler.

"I saw giant sentient robots that could transform into vehicles." I watched his face carefully, but there was no change in his expression.

Agent Cauley chuckled.

"I can see why you believe you were drugged." I glared at him. Didn't I say not to laugh? Still, saying it outloud and having the idea laughed at eased my tension a little.

That's right. It _was_ ridiculous. What was I thinking?

"Yeah, it was weird seeing fictional characters right in front of me," I lightly laughed.

"Fictional?" Agent Cauley asked, curious.

"Yeah, you know. Transformers? Robots in disguise?" His face looked at me blankly.

"The TV show's? The Michael Bay movies?" I looked at him incredulously. He had to of at least seen the movie trailers.

"You can Google it," I gave up. They could just look it up if they really didn't know. Agent Cauley gave me a strange look and Agent Fowler had an eyebrow raised. The tension came back with a vengeance at their complete lack of recognition of what I was talking about. Shit, I shouldn't of said that. They both looked at each other, silently agreeing to something before Cauley continued.

"Well, maybe we can get back to that later. Do you have any idea who your kidnapper might have been? Any clues that you found significant?" They wanted to know about the glow rod. I just knew they'd ask about that.

I shook my head.

"I'm afraid not." I said trying to go for an apologetic tone. Whether they bought the lie was impossible to tell from their reactions.

"A shame." He slightly shook his own head and sighed in disappointment. He stared at me dead in the eyes, and I couldn't help but look down into my lap. Do you ever wonder how many threads a blanket has? Very interesting subject.

Damn it, they could totally call my bluff, I just know it. I was _trying_ to act like I had no idea what was going on, but it's _hard_ the longer you have to speak. The longer you speak, the more you accidently let slip. I was curious if they knew of the Transformers franchise, because that was the final straw I needed to convince me I was really in another Universe. In doing so though, I didn't have to let them know I thought the Bots were fictitious characters!

"I hope you don't mind, but do you have any family or close relations we can call? Just in case we need to verify anything you've said." Shit.

I wonder if this blanket was always off-white, or if it was once just white. I hope the hospital didn't give patients old, and worn out blankets.

"Ms. Evensbrough," Agent Cauley said in a stricter tone than the kind, relaxing one he had been using during our conversation. Like he was trying to command me to tell the truth.

Like hell he could order me around.

"No. I don't." I replied without looking at him. "I'm quite tired now, and would like for you to leave." I glared up into his blue gaze and practically _dared_ him to see what would happen if he refused to leave.

"Like hell we're gonna leave until you-" Agent Fowler started protesting before Agent Cauley cut him off.

"Of course. You must be tired, so we'll be taking our leave," Cauley said packing his briefcase and standing up from the chair.

" It was a pleasure meeting you Ms. Evensbrough, despite our short visit. Perhaps we can continue this conversation another time." He smiled, but this time I didn't care. I wanted them out of the room. Out. I had said too much, and they were asking questions I didn't know how to avoid. What? Do I tell them that my mom is who knows where, and my father had apparently died and I had a brother I never knew about? Did I tell them apparently my dad died 3 years ago, despite me seeing him just yesterday morning? It brought up too many questions that I didn't want to share.

It looked for a second like Agent Fowler was going to protest their dismissal, but an unsaid understanding passed between them again. Agent Fowler reluctantly left the room with Agent Cauley, but not before he shot me a suspicious look over his shoulder.

And then there was one.

I sighed and fell back into my bed, draping my left arm over my face.

Well that went well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished writing this one late at night, so I may go back and change some things later if I realize I didn't get a point across or if I didn't like how I phrased something.
> 
> Comments appreciated.
> 
> Also note: I do not own Transformers. Rachel is mine, the gal with all of the crazy theories.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

The rest of the day was fairly mundane. I finished my meal, and filled out the hospital forms with the information I felt comfortable sharing (whether or not some of it, like my social security, was relevant anymore was something the hospital would have to figure out). As Nurse Panuchan wasn't available, other nurses came and went, all of them very nosy, wanting to know what the Pentagon Agents had wanted. A physical therapist visited me and I was miserable as she made me move my right foot. I was helped to the bathroom and tried to wash myself a bit before going back to the bed. A doctor visited me and approved me for release tomorrow, with daily check ups with a physical therapist, a prescription for the pain, and a temporary crutch. The bandage had to stay on for at least another three weeks.

Everyone who came into my room I would try to subtlety ask if they knew any shows or movies about alien robots. None mentioned the most obvious answer, Transformers, in fact I didn't know any of the shows or movies in their answers. It was creepy.

Someone was kind enough to give me a magazine (though it was unfortunately for fashion) to fill my time. Finally, after sunset, Nurse Panuchan popped into my room.

"How ya feelin' sweetheart? I was just about to head out. Nurse Price will be taking over for me tonight," Nurse Panuchan said. I had been thankful for her presence, but now that she was leaving I felt a tinge of sadness.

"You'll be back in the morning, right?" I asked hopeful.

"I'm afraid not hun, tomorrow's my day off." She said apologetically.

"So I won't be seeing you again." I said disappointed. I had greatly appreciated her presence.

"Well than, it was a pleasure meeting you Nurse Panuchan". I held out my hand and she took it in a handshake.

"And you as well . May you have a quick recovery."

"Oh! Before you go, could I ask for a huge favor?" I asked. While I hadn't known the nurse for long, she was the closest person I've come to trust here.

"Depends on the favor honey," she replied suspiciously.

"I was hoping you could search something on the internet for me? Using Google or whatever?" Her face became stern.

"Don't think I didn't know you were asking everyone about your robots. If I allow this, will you stop asking 'bout it?" Whoops.

I nodded sheepishly.

"Yes ma'am." I hadn't meant to bother people by it, but looking back, I _might_ have asked too often and too forcefully.

She took out a red flip phone, and I couldn't help but be a little surprised. Who still uses a flip phone?

"Tell me what you want to search."

"Transformers series Hasbro." While she typed it in, I waited in anticipation. Finally she finished typing and waited for what I assume was the page to load. I held my breath as we waited.

I wasn't crazy. I wasn't crazy.

After what felt like forever, she showed me the results on the small screen.

Transformer voltage. Transformer engineering. One for audio speakers. This shouldn't be the first results no matter what search engine you're using. The search engine wasn't one I recognized, so I couldn't tell if it was reliable or not. Scouring the internet for any evidence of the Transformers franchise was something I'd still need to do on my own time, as maybe it _was_ just a bad search engine. I was still curious of the lack of any familiar brands around though.

"One last crazy question. Do any of these ring a bell for you? Google? Facebook? Twitter? McDonalds? IPhones?" I asked, getting desperate at this point. She shook her head.

"Never heard of them, sorry to say."

"...Well thanks anyway," I smiled at her, not paying attention when she left the room with a final goodbye. My mind was already working.

I hated to say it, and I _really_ hated to say it, but I with the current evidence it was highly likely I was in the Transformers Universe. Considering the Cybertronians here, not to mention that I was in Jasper, and Agent Fowler's appearance, I would take a guess I'm at some point during the Prime series.

If Cliffjumper was alive, that would mean it was before the events of the series, but if he wasn't, then I was at some point during the show. There were time skips in the show though, and I vaguely recalled that there were comics that took place in between some episodes from what I had once read on a wiki page.

Of course there was always the possibility that while the characters were the same, the events were not. In which case my knowledge was basically useless. It was what I really hoped was the case, as it would mean less sense of a burden on my shoulders.

But if it _was_ the same…

What would I do?

A more immediate concern was what I was going to do when I got out of the hospital. I had nowhere to go, no means of transportation or even identity. I didn't exist on this Earth, was never born. I didn't even have a penny to my name.

I could deal with the pain if I had to without medication, and as long as I was careful, I could do the exercises myself (and hopefully not completely mess up my foot forever). But how was I going to pay for the hospital stay?

I think I'll push that problem onto future me.

I laid back into the bed and took out the rod I had hid behind the pillow. With the sunlight outside gone its blue light was stronger, even taking into account the fluorescent lights above me. I pointed it in front of me expecting for it to extend, but it didn't.

Hm.

Maybe I was holding the wrong side? I flipped it and tried again.

Still nada.

Okay, did I break it? It would figure if I did, the one thing I've got and I'd already broken it. I slapped it against my hand and tried shaking it. I looked at the ends of it, but it was completely unresponsive. Great. Just great. What did I do to make it extend last time?

There was a knock at the door before I could figure it out, so I put the rod away and called the person in.

It was the night shift nurse coming in to introduce herself and get my dinner order.

I could figure out the alien stick later.

4

The large metal elevator shuttered its way down the shaft. Inside, the impatient and irritable man was left to ruminate in his thoughts on the busy day.

The day had not been busy in the way he enjoyed, of course, but instead filled with once again having to clean up the Bots' mess. His mood was only compounded by the fact that for most of the day, the Autobot liaison was forced to work with Agent Cauley. That slick tongued snake would like nothing more than to take his job as the US government's official Autobot lisaon. He thought he was clever, but oh boy, the Agent had never even meet any of the Autobots (or any alien robot for that matter). Fowler was sure that if Cauley ever did, he'd run away faster than fireworks being launched on the fourth of july, and with his tail between his legs to boot. It was a fine image to imagine.

The elevator jostled as it reached the bottom, and the door opened. Agent Fowler entered the base, his eyes automatically searching for Prime.

The Autobots had made good use of the former missile silo. Originally, the base had only contained the concrete bottom and supporting walls, the metal storage units, the empty rooms, and finally the metal second floor that took up a third of the main entrance room. The base had been in disrepair before the Bots took residence, cracking and unused for decades. Yet, the Autobots had made the base their own.

Ratchet had created an impromptu med bay in the main entrance, with cobbled together alien tech everywhere (on more than one occasion the Agent had tried to get his hands on some, only for the medic to refuse). Directly across from the elevator towered their transporter-bridge-do-hicky, and in front of it was the Autobots logo etched into the concrete floor. The Autobot medic was working at a green tinted screen, before the Agent entered. Now, the medic, unfortunately, had to give his attention to whatever the Agent came for this time.

"Agent Fowler, for what do we have the pleasure?" The medic asked, clearly not pleased with the humans presence.

"Where's Prime. I need to speak to him." Fowler demanded, coming up to the yellow railing surrounding the floor.

"Out looking into a possible energon deposit at the moment. They should be coming back any moment now." Rachet said, focus coming back to the sudden activity on the screen.

He then walked over to a large handle nearby and pulled it down. Both the bot's and human's attention went to the powering of the bridge as its swirl of colors opened. A bright flash appeared at the end of the portal, and not a second later, three vehicles came barreling through. A big blue and red rig truck at front and center, a blue Aprilia RSV motorcycle to the trucks left, and finally a yellow Urbana 500 car with a black stripe down its middle on the right side of the truck. They all transformed into their bipedal robot forms, and despite their alien appearance, even the Agent could tell that the mission went empty handed from the motorcycle and racing car's expressions. Prime, as usual, was stoic with not an ounce of emotion giving away what he felt or what the mission was about. The Prime immediately noticed Fowler, and came over to the railing so as to better address the Liaison.

"Agent Fowler. For what do we owe your visit?" Asked Optimus. His deep voice had a way of commanding respect. The Liaison stared straight into the Autobot leader's eyes.

"Prime! Just what happened to that girl that she's jabbering about giant alien robots?" The Agent demanded. Fowler had, of course, heard the Autobots side almost immediately after their mission (it seems they'd learned after trying to hide the three kids, that they should just tell the truth), but Fowler had found the story to be a bit unbelievable. He wouldn't of been surprised if the events happened to one of the aliens, but to a human? He half hoped that Prime would reveal some yet unrevealed information to make sense of it all.

"I am afraid I do not understand Agent Fowler. The events occurred as explained to you. Have you discovered any new information as to explain the situation?"

"Only that she's a terrible liar. And, apparently, her name is Rachel Evensbrough. Though there's no record of her _anywhere_ , in _any_ database. Any theories?" Fowler stated. They had searched every database, yet came up with no results. That, along with her refusal to talk about any parents or relations, immediately brought up the suspicion that she was a foreign spy, yet there was no record of her in any of the hacked foreign databases either.

"Is it possible she's a Pretender Optimus?" Arcee asked. Optimus considered it for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Her life signature was that of a humans. Yet, I cannot say for certain, as the artifact was interfering with readings."

"This artifact" Fowler began, bringing the attention back to him. "what exactly is it?"

"A shiftable weapon of sorts. Beyond that, I cannot say," Optimus responded. The Autobots only had it in their hands for a moment before it disappeared.

That brought up another question to the event. How'd the girl manage to acquire the artifact, and how did she manage to take it from the Autobots?

Fowler would have the answers one way or another.

"She'll be released this Friday," Fowler said. Optimus nodded.

"Arcee-"

"Pick up the kid. Bring her here safely. Got it." Arcee replied before Optimus could finish.

Rachet spluttered.

"Wha-! Isn't three humans enough?!" Rachet asked incredulously.

Everyone stared at him.

Looking around and seeing how no one else shared his opinion, Rachet just grumbled and went back to his work.

"I'll meet you there," Fowler nodded. Done with what he came there to do, Fowler turned to leave.

After the Agent left, Arcee couldn't help but voice her hesitation to the Prime.

"Is it really the best idea to bring such an unknown to the base Optimus?" She would be lying if she said she didn't have more than one reservation about bringing the human here, not the least of which was their young human allies safety.

Optimus looked at Arcee.

"I have no doubt that the Decepticons will be just as interested in that artifact as we are, and I cannot condone what would happen if the Decepticons reached her first." Optimus replied.

Arcee understood, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Spring Break!
> 
> It's Spring Break for me meaning at least another two chapters this week. Rachel is going to properly get an introduction to the Autobots soon. What is she going to do? She's certainly not the best liar.
> 
> Comments appreciated!
> 
> Also note: I don't own Transformers. Wow! Really? Yep. Just Rachel. Everyone's got to come to terms with reality eventually.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

I had a dream last night.

No, not of home, or that everything that had happened was just a dream, or something cliche like that.

It was one of those dreams where, when you wake up, you feel like you've just gained something important. It was important.

And I couldn't remember it.

I must have spent at least an hour after I woke up, just trying to recall the dream. I really hated that the more I tried to grasp it, the more it dissipated from my memory.

A new nurse I hadn't seen before came into my room at around seven-ish to take my order for breakfast, and to make sure I could hobble over to the bathroom by myself without face-planting. I had been given a white t-shirt and blue jeans to wear from the hospital's donated clothing options, and went back into the bed afterwards.

I'd been feeling nervous and jittery since I woke up. Not because of the dream, that was more of an annoyance, but because I feared the inevitable bill that would drop into my lap and the boot from the hospital. The future was now, and I had to figure out what my plan was going to be.

Is selling my soul an option?

On second thought, that might be entirely possible here.

It's going to take me awhile to get use to this. Or- and here's an idea- I'll get back home before I have to get use to this place. Wouldn't that be a dream come true?

Damn it Rachel, put the dream thing on the backburner, it'll (maybe) come back to you eventually. Right now I had more immediate things to consider.

The nurse came back in with my breakfast, and I quitely thanked her as I devoured the grits and toast.

Looking back, I really wish I had convinced the Pentagon agents to allow me to meet the Autobots, then I might have been able to get some help figuring out how I got here, and how it is I can get home. I mean there had to be a way to get home if there was a way to get here in the first place, the fictional Universe that isn't supposed to even exist.

Right?

Just the thought of being stuck here made me nauseous. It's not that the whole i'm-in-a-fictional-universe thing wasn't amazing (though the idea of perhaps having to fend for myself on the streets, was not), it was just- well - I wanted to be able to see my family again. I'd never been without them, hell, I'd never been so completely on my own before.

No tears Rachel. No. Tears. I took a deep breath in and out.

Okay.

So I needed to meet the Autobots. Their base was on the outskirts of the town, hidden in a false canyon rock. Wasn't the whole town surrounded by said canyon rocks though? And wouldn't they freak out if the very same suspicious human from before came up to knock on their front door?

Ugh. It was a better than no plan, but it was still a time consuming, poor plan.

There was a knock on the door, and the doctor from yesterday came inside.

"Ms. Evensbrough! How are you this morning?" The dirty brown haired and brown eyed middle-aged doctor asked cheerily.

"Good Dr.-" Shit I forgot his name.

"Dr. Winslow," he finished unperturbed. "You ready to get out of here?" The doctor asked as he looked over my chart.

"About that doctor- if I can be frank, I-I don't know how i'm going to afford to pay for the stay and treatment." I gulped. Why was I so nervous. Should I have lied? No! Maybe they could- not bill me? Was that a possibility?

"Oh, did no one tell you?" He asked. I looked at him confused. He smiled.

"Your bill has already been paid in full by your guardian. He'll be here to pick you up shortly."

Go with it Rachel. Just be thankful and go with it.

"Oh! Of course, thank you so much."

The doctor checked my foot and I tried to make small conversation with him, but my attention was entirely on what he had said.

Someone paid the bill? And said someone also said they were my guardian? What? Who? Why?! It could literally be anyone, but two people were the most plausible as to who said guardian might be.

After the Doctor left I ruminated and fretted over all the possible worst case scenarios, until noon time came.

The nurse from earlier came in at that time, saying that my guardian was waiting in the lobby, and that I was ready to be discharged. She gave me a bag that had my PJ's from the night I came in, cleaned as best they probably could. I swung my leg carefully over the right side of the bed, and as I put on the thin teal slipper they had given me for my left foot, I quickly snuck the rod out from behind the pillow, hiding it between the shirt and pants of the pajamas. Anticipation, and a healthy bit of weariness, built in me as I hobbled through the wooden door using my crutch.

I really hoped the 'guardian' was who I was hoping it would be. It would figure with my luck that it'd end up being a Decepticon or MECH. Oh my God I had completely forgotten about MECH! Add that to my list of worries.

As I finally exited the hospital room, I looked around. At the center of the floor was a circular desk arrangement around which were many doors to other rooms marked by numbers. To my left and right were hallways, down which the occasional nurse flitted through. Across from my room was another hallway, at the end of which was an elevator. As the nurse slowly led me to the elevator, I recognized a few of the nurses at the desks and said my goodbyes. We went down the hallway before finally reaching the elevator, at which point the nurse pushed the button and we waited for it to come to our floor.

I will forever remember this place as where my sense of normalcy and sanity died. There will be a funeral procession tomorrow at noon, please bring your formal attire.

The elevator dinged open. We both stepped in and the nurse hit the button labeled one with a star next to it, what must have been the ground floor. There was a total of 4 floors (we were on the third) according to the button options. The elevator dinged as we passed the second floor and again when we reached the first, where the elevator stopped and the door opened. In front of me was the lobby, as while it was white themed like everything else, there was a receptionist at an enclosed desk and - to my joyous delight- clear glass doors with silver crash bars that led outside.

The nurse stood back a bit behind me as I hobbled closer to the doors to stare out of it.

It was noon, so the sun was at its zenith in the sky casting a bright glow over the town of Jasper. Directly in front of the doors was a large parking lot sparsely populated with cars, that led out onto a road. Across from the road was a collection of small brick shops complementing the surrounding landscape. That, or the sand from the surroundings over the years had buffed the buildings to the point where it had gotten into the small crevices of the buildings forcing a sort of unintended conformity. The signs couldn't be made out from this distance (or perhaps that was due to my distinct lack of glasses blurring much of the details). Wooden electric poles lined the road on the same side as the shops. It certainly wasn't the skyline of a modern and developing city. No, this was a small town that probably hadn't seen growth in years.

"If you'll sign these official forms affirming that you've been released and for record keeping, before you leave." The receptionist from behind the desk brought my attention back.

"Yeah," I replied. I hobbled over to the desk to sign the checkout forms. As I was signing and reading the forms, behind me a door opened and a gust of fresh air came inside. I turned my head, and my eyes widened.

It was Agent Fowler.

Huh, so I guessed right, or at least partially right. My bet was on either Fowler or that other agent. Glad it was Fowler, I think I'd prefer him over that other agent any day. That other guy was downright creepy.

Fowler stared at me with a slight smile on his face.

"Ready to go?"

His smile then became full blown as he went over to shake the nurse's hand, and thanked her for taking care of his "step-daughter". I almost choked on air. He took the forms right out of my hand and looked them over, chatting with the receptionist while looking over- hey wait! Isn't this an invasion of privacy or something?!

Was I- was I supposed to go along with this?!

Just as I was geared up to say something snappy to the agent, he turned me around and escorted me towards the door. Once again thanking the receptionist and nurse. He held open the door as I carefully walked out onto the sidewalk surrounding the parking lot.

I looked up to the clear blue sky and took a nice,

Slow.

Deep.

Breath.

The sun felt warm on my skin and a nice breeze brushed past.

"I hate to interrupt, but we've got a schedule to keep," Fowler said, interrupting my zen moment.

"Oh, i'm sorry step-father, I thought I could enjoy being outside for a bit before I'm forced to confinement again," I rolled my eyes. Couldn't I have at least a minute to enjoy finally being outside after being cooped up in a hospital for days?

"If you're so bothered by the lie, I could always forward you the bill?" Fowler suggested. I glared at him.

He wasn't done though.

"If you'd like to go your merry way, please, go ahead and take your magic stick to wave yourself some wings and fly away. Cause I'd take a gander that you don't have anywhere else you can go. So, you can come with us and we can help you to figure out this mess, or I could arrest you and we'd be doing the exact same dance."

Well, now I know for sure that my lies didn't work. And, yeah, I didn't have anywhere to go.

He still didn't need to be such a jerk about it.

"Us? Arrest me? You and what army? " I asked smug. He could probably arrest me, but I gestured around to indicate the distinct lack of an anyone else. There wasn't-

Oh.

There in the corner of the parking lot was a familiar blue motorcycle that looked suspiciously like Arcee's. Apparently that was it- her- cue to enter the conversation.

As she rolled up towards us, there was a shift in the air above her and a human, hologram? Fake person? Cool leathered biker? Digitized above her. On her? I couldn't help but stare.

When she was in the parking spot directly in front me she spoke, and I almost jumped from my skin. When it was behind a screen and animated, it's fine. But a talking vehicle in reality? That just surprises me, whether I'm prepared for it or not.

"Look kid, it's important you understand-"

"I'm not a kid," I jumped in after my shock wore off, crossing my arms and glaring at her.

"Fine, young lady? Point is, the Decepticons, those bot's who almost killed you? They're going to want what you have, which means you're a target and in terrible danger."

"And what, you're going to protect me?" It came out a bit more condescending than I intended. I knew the Autobots would try to protect me, but if I'm being completely honest here, I'm pretty sure I'd be in more danger if I stayed with them. In the end though, they were also my best, and safest, bet to finding out how I could get home.

"I'd say I've done a pretty okay job so far," There was a teasing in her voice, and it just hit me the Autobots have been watching over me the entire time I was in the hospital.

Okay.

Totally not embarrassing. It's not like I let a few rip, or scratched myself in a few unsavory places or anything. Nope, ha, ha.

Ha.

Well, here's to hoping it was just the sort of watching where they're trying to keep around me safe, and not the type where they're spying on me.

Ha.

Okay. I knew what I had to do, so why was I stalling? There's no need to be nervous, the Autobots aren't going to hurt me. I know that, logically at least.

"Fine, but there's no way I can ride on you," I indicated to Arcee, then indicated to my bandaged right foot and crutch.

"Wasn't planning on it. I'm more here for protection. Make sure the cons aren't planning anything," Arcee responded.

That meant I'd have to ride with…

"I'll bring the car over. Then we can have a nice, long, honest chat," Fowler said as he took out his keys.

Riding with Arcee suddenly didn't seem like such a bad idea.

As he walked over to a fairly old looking tan sedan, my focus went back to Arcee. An awkward silence enveloped us.

…

"So...um… robot, huh?" Haven't I said that before? It's like I suddenly forgot how to start a conversation, I was just that nervous. I should be excited! I get to see the freaking Autobot base, unless I'm wrong and they're actually escorting me to a prison or something.

Happy thoughts.

I needed to start over.

"You know what? Scratch that. Can we start over? My name is Rachel. Please not Ms. Evensbrough, I think I'll go crazy if everyone calls me Ms. Evensbrough," I said sticking out my hand, then realizing that she couldn't shake it, so I put my hand back down and tried a smile.

Confidence. Confidence is the key, even with talking to giant, alien, fictional robots. Right.

"Arcee," she reciprocated. "Also, I'm not ready to forgive you for getting mud all over me just yet."

I cringed.

Right. That happened.

"Sorry about that." I was cranky at the time, and wanted to lash out at the unfairness of the situation, which turned out to be in a very childish manner.

Still, there was a small part of me that wasn't sorry for it.

"Get in," Agent Fowler commanded as he pulled up in front of us. I looked at Arcee uncertainly.

"Go. You'll be fine. Agent Fowler is actually a good man," she assured. Okay. Yeah, okay.

I hobbled over to the rear door facing me and looked back at Arcee, before struggling to get myself and my crutch into the car and shutting the door behind me.

As Agent Fowler pulled out of the hospital parking lot, I looked behind us to see Arcee pulling out to follow us.

"Where are we going?" I asked Fowler.

"You'll see."

Well that was helpful. I let out a gust of air from my lungs as I closed my eyes.

My heart was beating fast, and I was slightly shaking. From what I couldn't make out. Fear? Nerves? Anger? I needed to calm down. Breathe. In and out. No need to fret. Confidence.

"Nervous about something?" Fowler asked as he glanced into his rearview mirror.

"I guess so. There's plenty of things to be nervous about," I quickly countered. Outside the buildings went past. It was more brick buildings, but with greater distance between them than the ones across from the hospital. Occasionally there was a stucco building instead.

"I suppose there is. Cons' chasing our tails in all manner of ways," he tested. I didn't rise to it.

Maybe I could figure out where we were in the timeline. I leaned forward in my seat.

"So, how many are there?"

"Of who?" He pretended not to know.

"Of the bots?" I asked.

"Of the bots? Enough to keep trouble around." He grumbled.

Well that was helpful.

"Well how many is that?" I pushed.

"Well why are you so curious?"

This was getting nowhere. I let out a puff of air and leaned back into the seat again, staring outside.

"Look. I'm just trying to make sense of what happened," I defended myself.

"So are we, we share a common goal then."

I nodded.

"Sure. I guess so." I took my bag and took out the rod. It's glow lit up the back, making a blue tinge onto everything. "Maybe we can start with what this is?" We came to a stoplight and Fowler turned around to look at the rod, then at me.

"Being honest now, huh? What made you change your mind?"

"I'm past the denial stage and am now in the acceptance? And I thought you wanted an honest conversation. " I pointed towards the stoplight as it had changed to green. Fowler focused back onto the road. I continued, "and anyway, you're right. I need help. If you guys can't help me then I'm just cursed."

"Cursed? That's a funny way of putting things. " He took a right at the next light. I glared at the rod.

"I swear to you, I think this things cursed." I whispered. "I try to get rid of it and it. Keeps. coming. back. I leave it to a Bot? It comes back. I try throwing it away? It comes flying back. I swear, I'm not crazy, and I'm not lying. I left the thing with the Autobots and it appeared under the pillow at the hospital. Cursed. I don't want it, I don't want any of this." It alleviated me a bit to finally just vent to someone, even if it was just a little bit.

Agent Fowler nodded and said "huh." There was a pause in the conversation as he merged onto the highway.

"There's one thing I'm curious about..."

"Shoot."

"How do you know about the Autobots and Decepticons?"

Was he asking about what I really wished he wouldn't want to talk about?

"What- whatsoever do you mean?" I forced a smile.

He raised an eyebrow.

"You knew what they were called before, as far as i'm aware, anyone else told you squat. At the hospital you mentioned a TV show or movie about giant alien robots? The Boss bot mentioned he overheard you saying they weren't real back during their mission too."

"What really? Can't say I remember that! Hahaha!" I tried to laugh the question off. I cringed internally. Oh my God that was the first excuse that came to my mouth? Good job Rachel, real smooth.

"I believe I said we were going to have an honest, and truthful conversation here young lady. I would hate to have to move this conversation to the Pentagon," Fowler reminded me with an undertone of a threat in his words. I gulped.

"Yes! Of course, wouldn't want to have to go that far out. It's just, uh, a silly little thing. A TV show, about robots with two factions, the Autobots and Decepticons." Please just leave it at that.

"I'd know about a show like that! I've never heard-!"

"Alternate universe." I blurted out.

There was a long silence where I didn't say anything, and Fowler clearly wanted me to continue. Realizing I wasnt going to he spoke again.

"You're gonna have to explain a bit more in detail than that."

"Well it's really just something- some theory- and I have a few theories- I've cometothroughtheevents-astherearealotofthingsthatjustdon'tmakesense- andtheTVshow- wellthatjust factorsin- thatmademecometotheconclusion- among otherthings- thatthis- orI- amfromEarth- wellImeanadifferentEarthwellImeanthere's onlyoneEarth but-"

"Stop, just stop! Not a word your saying is making a lick of sense!" Fowler interrupted me and I quickly shut my mouth. "Slowly."

I nodded and took a moment to consider what I'd say.

With what I've said now and before, there was no avoiding telling about my multiverse theory. Hopeful that'd satiate him as far as the TV show thing, because I really didn't have any other idea on how this could have happened. I was still holding out that there would be a more reasonable theory. I still wanted to avoid specifically mentioning this specific world was fiction in mine though. I could very well know their futures, and I didn't want them to know or expect anything from me. I really didn't want to have that pressure on me, my goal was to get home, and not change fate here.

A plan began formulating in my mind.

I could choose any of the other Transformers story verses to explain my knowledge, it didn't have to be Prime. Problem was I only knew this and some of the Transformers movie verse. Those two don't lend to the best options.

But who said my transformers TV show had to be real? It's not like they could check. And if I made up a fake one, it'd give me flexibility.

"Okay. So- this is just a theory currently, but with the current evidence it is my opinion that I'm from an alternate Earth."

"Alternate Earth? What in the blazes is that supposed to mean?!"

"If we're going to the Autobot base I'd rather wait to explain it so I don't have to repeat myself." Agent Fowler protested, but when he quickly realized I wasn't going to say anything more on the subject at the moment, he dropped it.

The avoidance allowed me greater time to formulate a mental list of what I should and should not say. Not that I've been sticking to my own rules lately.

The car once again was filled with silence as Fowler drove. We had left the small town and were now a way out into the outlying desert landscape. Outside, the wind picked up the sand into a tumble only for it to lose momentum and fall back to the ground. The drive became more bumpy due to the poor road and the occasional small rock we ran over. The drive continued like this for awhile until, after a bend, a large rocky mountain face greeted us. The rock came at the end of the road before it split into both a right and left direction.

Was that...?

Fowler sped up the car towards the rock face. We quickly went off of the road, (and past a stop sign ironically) as we sped towards the face of the mountain, the car shaking as we drove on the unpaved ground.

It was fake, I kept telling myself. A gate would open up, right?

It wasn't opening up and we weren't slowing down.

I started screaming.

"SLOW DOWN! WERE GOING TO HIT IT!" I screamed as the rock came far too close for comfort. I shut my eyes and braced for the inevitable end of me. Goodbye cruel world!

…

"Ha! Should of seen your face. Priceless every time," Fowler laughed.

What?

I slowly opened my eyes, and to my great, _great_ , relief we were not splattered onto the rock. Instead we were in a metallic tunnel that was supported by square beams. I looked behind me to see Arcee (with no hologram) and a metal door shut. I turned back around, now giddy (and my fear forgotten), and leaned forward as far as I could with the seatbelt, wanting to see the place I'd only ever seen in the show.

The Autobot base.

"Welcome to Outpost Omega One," Fowler grinned. I wasn't paying attention to him though.

The car rolled up near the center of the room, and Agent Fowler opened the driver door to let himself out. I stayed inside for a second longer, taking it all in before leaving the safety of the car.

The base was large, larger than I ever thought, as I couldn't even see the ceiling. Underneath, a concrete base acted as the ground and some of the supporting walls while the rest was just the natural canyon rock. The room had been set up a makeshift lab, as there was Cybertronian tech in here I couldn't even begin to guess the function of. There was a second floor I couldn't see very well, other than the yellow rails, and the pair of yellow painted stairs leading up to the floor. There was a niche to my right where I assumed the ground bridge controls were located, and where a red and white Bot currently stood. He didn't look too pleased to see the car (or was it he wasn't too pleased to see me?). To my left was the large groundbridge, which consisted of several large black rings, in front of the which was the symbol of the Autobots etched into the concrete floor. From inside the car I could make out two other pairs of metal legs.

I took a deep breath and opened the car door. Getting out seemed to take an embarrassingly long amount of time due to my bad foot, causing the focus I felt on me make me even more nervous.

My eyes didn't know who to focus on. Rachet the red and white blocky medic? The bulky green giant Wrecker, Bulkhead? The yellow with black striped youthful Scout Bumblebee? Arcee behind me transformed into her bipedal mode as well, seemingly ignoring the tension in the room and just stretching.

I didn't know to do with myself, so I ended up just hobbling over to Agent Fowler.

They were still staring at me.

Of course they were, but…

Should I say something? I mean, there were plenty of things to say.

Okay, yeah. Confidence.

"Um, hi. I'm… Rachel.." my eyes flitted to each of the bots, not knowing who I should rest them upon. I heard a scoff from my right, and finally rested my eyes on Rachet.

"We know who you are," he said as he rolled his, hmm optics? Can I say that now? I tried not to take the dismissal to heart, but I was very self-conscious at the moment, so his words stung a little.

He really did sound like an grumpy old man though, which was pretty cool.

"And Prime?" Fowler asked the medic.

"I am here Agent Fowler," a booming voice that went right to the core sounded from behind Bulkhead and Bumblebee. The heavy footfalls shook the ground slightly as the Prime walked towards us. He came from a hallway I hadn't noticed behind the two Bots. They both parted so the he could come closer, and it gave me a better view of him.

Prime was on a completely other level of height compared to the other four Bots. He must have been twice Arcee's height for sure, and as he grew closer, the more insignificantly small I felt in comparison.

Damn it, and he was hunky too, okay? There, I thought it! I'll never get it out of myself again.

He was mostly silver, and had blue armored feet, legs, and helmet, while his chest and arms had a red plating. Also on his chest was two windows from what must have been his vehicle mode. He had a surprisingly young and clear sliver face. His light blue eyes stared into Fowlers than into mine.

And damn it! His stare unnerved me the most (and no not in that way). He had an air of authority with him, yet at the same time, his smile was welcoming (okay filthy mind, you can stop).

Optimus keeled down to address us more respectfully. I didn't really mind him standing, though it was courteous of him to attempt to address us in a more equal manner. In actuality, all it meant was that I didn't have to strain my neck and back as much.

"Hello again Agent Fowler," he nodded to the liaison, than his optics turned onto me.

I gulped.

"And you must be Rachel Evensbrough. It is a pleasure to properly meet you," he said kindly enough.

I nodded dumbly.

"Yeah," I said quietly. I turned towards Fowler in awe.

"He's Optimus Prime. The Optimus Prime," I whispered and pointed at the giant ali- no, the Cybertronian, the fucking leader of the Autobots in front of us.

"And he's Bumblebee, and he's Bulkhead, and he's Rachet!" I pointed to each of them as I sounded off their names in awe, than turned back to Fowler who had gone wide eyed. A strong shiver and warmth went down my spine, and I turned around to see Ratchet staring at some device pointed at me.

"Negative. She's 100% human," Rachet affirmed.

Obviously?

"Forgive us if we are overly cautious. Have you heard of us before?" The Prime asked, staring at me intensely.

I chuckled giddily.

"Oh, if that surprised you, I know lots of names Prime. Lots. And that's not all I know." I began listing, "I know you're all autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron, created by Primus. I know that your archnemesis is Megatron. I know the Autobots and Decepticons have been fighting for thousands of years at this point," I was fangirling, I couldn't help it. "I could take a good guess of a few things, like that Starscream is Megatron's second in command, though why I can never understand."

I heard a sudden bellowing laughter. "You and me both," Bulkhead laughed, before stopping when Bee elbowed him and beeped.

I couldn't help but stare. My giddiness turning into awe again. Bumblebee just beeped, I mean, yeah, I'd heard it before, in the forest, but this time I wasn't delirious (I hope)! It was so, so cute.

"Is there any classified information you don't know?" Fowler asked exasperated.

"Yeah, plenty there too. If you would like, I can explain what I was talking about earlier?" I asked. Fowler frowned, and the Prime raised an...Eyebrow ridge? A metal plate that just so happened to be at the same place and used in the same manner as a human eyebrow? I needed to get my Cybertronian anatomy down.

"Miss-know-it-all-here thinks she's from another Universe or something!" Fowler explained disbelievingly. I frowned and crossed my arms.

"Okay, 1, I just said I didn't know everything, just some basics, and even that info's iffy, 2, My alternate universe explanation is just the most likely I've come up with to explain the differences and unexplainable scenarios since I appeared out of nowhere here, and 3, Would it kill you to be a little more friendly?" I scoffed at the end to accentuate my frustration with the agent and glared straight into his eyes.

"What do you mean that's the most likely explanation?! It's bogus!" Fowler countered.

"I might be wrong! I'm open to that possibility, but that this is an alternate Earth is the most probable of them is all!" The multiverse theory was a legitimate explanation to the universe.

"And what has made you believe you are from... an alternate Earth?" Optimus cut in. I looked at Prime seriously, ignoring the strong dislike I was staring to build towards Fowler.

"None of the major brands here are familiar, heck, none of the most obvious ones where I come from even exist here. No Android smartphones, or Apple, or major fast food joints like McDonalds, global social medias like facebook or Twitter. All unrecognizable to people, which is impossible, especially if you live anywhere in the US. Not to mention the huge matter, which I would like to say in advance that I mean no offense," I hesitated to continue, but Optimus gestured for me to continue.

"Well, that where I'm from...Cybertronian's are fiction. That's... how I know about you."

Bulkhead shook his head.

"No way! This is freaky, sure, but we are **not** just made up human characters!" Bulkhead immediately rejected. "Right guys?" He said more hesitantly, looking for backup.

"I concur! Just because you knew our names and vaguely know of our history does not automatically mean that-" Rachet started before I cut him off.

"Let me finish before you make your judgment. Please." I begged. Rachet scoffed in disbelief, but said no more, allowing me to continue. I took a deep breath.

"So, where I'm from Cybertronian's are fiction, with TV shows and movies loosely based off of the TV show. Oh, and toys. It's called Transformers, a very recognizable franchise in the US, and I guess to a lesser extent elsewhere in the world."

This was the part I needed to sell more than anything else.

"But it's different here, that much I can already tell. So I wanted to confirm some information. For example, in the TV show the Autobots and Decepticons came to Earth because the AllSpark had landed here from when it was launched from Cybertron during the war. In the show, that was what was mainly fought over, and secondarily Energon." The AllSpark thing actually came from the Bay movies, so not technically a complete lie.

"We never had to resort to launching the Allspark out into unknown space. The war was primarily fought over Energon supply," Optimus explained, failing to look me in the eyes. If I remembered correctly, wasn't the war primarily fought because of a wish to overthrow the caste system on Cybertron and remove the corruption in the Council though? Over time it perhaps became about Energon, but to say it was the primary cause of the war seemed disingenuous.

Perhaps I wasn't the only one telling partial truths here.

I nodded anyway.

"So some things you thought existed don't. Big hoopla! That doesn't mean you're necessarily from... from an alternate reality," Fowler pointed out. "There are far more reasonable explanations. Maybe, you're a Con' spy, maybe you're lying, or very likely, you're just insane!"

"I'd be inclined to agree, it's a stretch." my eyes narrowed at Fowler as I continued. "Except for a major personal issue for me."

"When I was in the hospital, I tried calling my parents numbers. My mother's number apparently doesn't work anymore, and my father has apparently been dead for three years. This is, of course, despite me seeing him just the day before. Not to mention that apparently I have a fully grown brother that I most definitely never knew about." I glared at Fowler. "Go ahead, look in your databases for one Robert Evensbrough and Lisa Malbury Evensbrough, I have a feeling you won't like what you'll find. And I have another feeling that you already know that I don't exist here, do I Agent Fowler?"

I had left a string of hope, the smallest amount, that the Agent would whisk up some information to prove me wrong. I prayed for it.

His expression said it all though.

"Does anyone else have a better explanation? How not only I know, even if in the smallest correct portion, of you all without having ever met you; not exist with any formal documentation; And how I got from my home in the middle of the night, in Houston Texas, with my family, to the middle of goddamn nowhere with a three year time skip or missing memories, please I'm all fucking ears!" I practically growled out.

There was a heavy silence.

"Whoa! Maybe you got kidnapped by different aliens and got brainwashed. How cool would that be?" A young feminine voice echoed in the base from seemingly nowhere. I looked to the halfway point up the stairs that led to the second floor, and my eyes widened.

It was a teenage asian girl with two twintails holding up her black hair with pink highlights at the ends. A little hair was hanging in a ponytail at the back of her head, which was held together with a hair tie. She had pink bangs that was swept to her left. She was wearing a dark blue tank top with a yellow border at the top and straps. A green robot (or was that supposed to be a monster?) was on the center of the tank top, underneath which was a two-toned purple short sleeved t-shirt. She was also wearing jean shorts, two-toned purple stockings, long brown boots with pink (or was that purple?) ties. She was fair skinned and had light brown eyes.

It was Miko. _Miko_. You know what? I never noticed just how much stuff Miko wore.

"Do you know anything about me? You probably know a bunch of cool things about the Bots! Can you name them all? What's your Earth like? How'd you get hurt? Was there blood? What were the shows about?" I was not prepared for the barrage of questions coming out of her mouth, and it stunned me for a moment.

At the top of the stairs two boys started coming down behind Miko. One was a dark haired teenage boy, taller than Miko, with blue eyes. He had on a dark grey shirt and either gray sleeves or a gray long sleeved undershirt, with simple blue jeans, and a pair of white and blue tennis shoes.

The other boy was a lot visibly younger than the teenagers. He was a kid, who I doubted could have even started puberty yet. He had a messy, light brown head of hair with dark brown eyes. He was wearing a formal white, long sleeved undershirt with a folded collar, along with an orange vest over it (was was up with them and multiple layers?). He was also wearing baggy blue jeans and white tennis shoes with an orange accent.

I felt underdressed.

Also, I think I'm getting an introduction to the human companions now. My previous anger once again disappeared as the awe took over. I was changing emotions faster than a roller coaster, and it was draining.

Arcee moved to block my view of them, optic narrowing slightly. The other Bots also clearly were uncomfortable at the appearance of the other humans.

"I'm afraid the human companions were quite different in the show," I think Miko asked for something like that. The questions were spouted out too fast for me to catch the rest.

"Ms. Evensbrough, this is Miko, Jack, and Rafael, our human friends," Optimus stood back up and indicated to said humans. Arcee looked alarmed at the introduction, but with a look from Optimus, she backed off. Miko waved, Jack seemed cautious, and Raf smiled nervously.

"Um, hi. I'm Rachel," I looked towards Optimus. "Just Rachel is fine."

Shit, did I just cuss in front of them? I put my hand lightly over my mouth in horror. Having a younger sibling causes one to usually be very careful with cursing.

Unperturbed by my realization, Miko came the rest of the way down and crossed the room over to me faster than I thought humanly possible.

"How old are you? Is she going to get a partner too? Are you really from an alternate reality? I heard you had a cool weapon? Do you really?" She was getting in my personal space.

"Uh...in the car. Yeah."

"Cool!"

"Hey, Miko, maybe back it up a bit? It can be overwhelming, meeting the Bots for the first time. Especially, I guess, in a situation like hers," Jack tried to help. Jack's interruption apparently distracted Miko enough to allow me to get some space from her.

I cleared my throat and addressed Prime.

"I found that stick-rod thing where I woke up. It has to be related to this somehow. I mean, I literally can't seem to get rid of it. I'm not trying to steal it from you guys on purpose or anything, it just- won't leave me alone!" Prime hummed in thought (oh wow that voice!) as his processor turned. I hobbled over to the car and jumped into the back to retrieve the strange glowing artifact, hobbling back over to Prime who bent down to take it from me. Everyone watched in fascination as the rod increased in size until it was an equivalent ratio from me to Optimus.

"Rachet do you believe you will be able to determine the artifacts properties?" Rachet looked from me to Prime to the object, than back to Prime, and finally back to the object, before finally taking it in his hand.

"It'll take some time, but I believe I can do that. You said that it seems to have formed a sort of link with you, is that correct?" Rachet asked me.

"I don't know about a link, but I throw it and it comes back." Rachet did not seem to be amused by my turn of phrase.

"If I can see it in an controlled environment, I believe I may be able to determine why it seems stuck to you." I was surprised that Rachet had taken my word on the artifact. I expected a greater protest to the idea.

"In the meantime, you are welcome to stay here Rachel until we can figure out how to solve this issue," Optimus offered. I was surprised by his generosity.

"I've got some calls to make to verify your story," Agent Fowler dismissed himself. He walked back to his car, but stopped after he had opened the door.

"Until further notice, you are not to leave this base, is that understood?"

"Sure," I grinned at him.

He was the one to glare at me this time, before he got into his car, and drove off.

"It might be best for you to stay here until Fowler returns or Ratchet completes his research." Optimus encouraged. I couldn't help but wonder if the real reason he wanted me to stay in the room was so the wild card human who knows too much didn't _also_ come to learn too much about the base and it's secrets.

I looked towards Miko, Jack, and Raf.

"So… what do you guys do for fun around here then?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to get this part done and over with. I used Transformers Prime Wiki for help with the appearance descriptions. Why can't everyone wear something simple, that doesn't take forever to explain? I really hate descriptions unless it's necessary. Like for the Prime team? Eh, just google if you want to know how they really look. I'm not changing it. But, for our humans compatriots...
> 
> The idea of having the protagonist know lot's of Bot names was inspired by Nan00k's Flipside, and Aftereffects. It's hilarious and I love it.
> 
> Update 1- 3/18/18: I went back and fixed some stuff, very light. I tried to get one last chapter done before spring break was over, but didn't make it. I should be able to post it tomorrow though. Also, I think I've got a general posting schedule now.
> 
> ****New posts every Friday night or Saturday morning.****
> 
> Comment's Appreciated! Really, thank you! Feedback is always encouraging.
> 
> Also Note: I don't own Transformers. This is actually a very long Coma-induced story of Rachel's (Also also note: Author's notes are not in any part or way a part of this story's canon).


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Just because I couldn't have a tour of the _entire_ base, didn't mean Miko wouldn't try to do a tour.

On the ground level she couldn't show much (not even the giant tank in the corner), as Rachet constantly interrupted Miko with the occasional, "Don't touch that!" or "Up-pup-pup!" Before he finally tired of us snooping in his stuff and ordered us to "Shoo! Go elsewhere!".

That left the _entire_ second floor. Oh what joy. And I had the _even greater joy_ of hobbling up the stairs with my crutch.

The second floor of the main hangar consisted of concrete slabs surrounded by yellow railing, with one more raised level at the back that held only an elevator. To the left of the stairs was a comfy makeshift family room, complete with an old yellow-greenish couch, with a matching chair, a wooden coffee table underneath which was a tan rug, an old tube TV with two antenna at the wall, along with two stereos, and some shelves next to and underneath the TV. There was trash everywhere, the tell-tale sign that teenagers used the space.

"I wouldn't challenge Raf to any of the racing games, he's actually really good!" Miko exclaimed after informing me of the recently installed game system. It was of another brand I had never heard of, but Miko took it in stride (like she seemed to do with everything else) that I had no idea of the game system.

The right side, past the elevator, was mostly empty, but next to Rachet's niche was where Raf had set up a station of his own. He had Cybertronian data screens as well as human desktop monitors and his laptop out. There was a bunch of tech stuff on the desk.

Said child genius was currently sitting on a chair on that side with Jack, and talking to Bee and Arcee. We went over to them, so Miko could begin pointing out some of the tech.

"This activates the groundbridge so we can help the Bots in case they need back up!" She indicated to a small, human sized version of a lever near Rachet's niche.

"Uh, didn't Rachet say it was in case someone needs an emergency groundbridge and he wasn't here?" Raf asked.

"Only if you want to be boring," Miko said rolling her eyes.

"What are you working on Rafael?" I asked, curious of all the graphs and information scrolling on his screen.

"Well, I was thinking, if you came from an alternate reality, that would have displaced a large amount of energy. It must have been the source of the spike the sensors picked up. I was just looking into what information can maybe be gathered from the readings," Raf replied, clearly focused on trying to unlock this puzzle.

"Boring!" Miko exclaimed as she twirled her hair. "Come on, I _have_ to introduce you to my favorite bands!" She then took my hand and pulled me back towards the couch, and I struggled to keep myself from face planting due to Miko's pace. I looked back towards the group begging with my eyes for someone to help me, but Jack just shrugged, Raf was already preoccupied, Bumblebee whirred lowly, and Arcee smiled at my misery with a sort of sadistic 'well that's Miko for you' look in her optics.

Apparently I learned heavy metal isn't my thing. Especially heavy metal with screaming in my ears at max volume for two hours.

My ears are permanently damaged now. I'm sure of it.

I heard loud thuds approach me and Miko (a good sign my ears are okay), just about when I had gotten Miko to _talk_ about a band instead of being forced to listen to it. I turned around to see Bulkhead as the source of the noise.

"Miko, I think it's time for you to go home," his bellowing voice contrasted his gentle words.

"Really? So soon? If Rache's staying, why can't I?" Miko argued.

"Because your host parents will worry about you, and we're _in disguise? Remember_ Miko?" Arcee jumped in. I felt there was a reference here that was going over my head.

"Ugh! Fine!" She threw back her head and groaned. "See you later Rachel," she waved. Miko threw on her purple and black backpack that was next to the couch on, and then continued her angry stomping tirade until she reached the bottom of the stairs where Bulkhead transformed into a big car (in comparison to his robot form, it was incredible he could fit into such a small space). Miko got in and slammed the door behind her, and I watched as they drove off, lifting my hand in a goodbye.

I looked around, noticing Rachet in a corner soldering something. Jack and Arcee were talking near the desk, not seeming to have moved much from when I last saw them. Bee and Raf were nowhere to be found. I took myself over to them. At my approach, their conversation halted, and Arcee considered me with what I guessed was suspicion.

"Hey, where'd Raf and Bee go?" I asked.

"Left while Miko had you preoccupied," Jack responded. "So what do you think?" He asked hesitantly.

I took one of the office chairs and dropped down onto it with a sigh. "While I don't mind the music, it's a bit too intense for me. The volume was so loud I'm pretty sure my hearings permanently damaged now."

He laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, but no, I meant what did you think of the base?"

"Hm, wasn't much to see considering I'm practically only allowed to see this floor." I stomped my left foot to accentuate the floor I was referring to. "What time is it anyway?"

Jack took out a black flip phone with white edges.

"6:20. Me and Arcee will have to head out soon too."

"I see…"

"Sorry, but, you know, my mom worries if I'm not home by the time her shift ends." He rubbed the back of his neck.

How about my own parents? Would they be worried? A memory came to mind of how once when I was in highschool, my mom had called the police because I had stayed after school for an essay and my phone battery died without me noticing. I couldn't imagine what must of been going through my parents minds at the moment. For their child to just disappear with no trace for two days? My mom would be past worried sick, she'd be in damn right panic mode at this point.

Jack, noticing my sudden mood change, began trying to console me. "Hey! No worries! We'll find a way to get you back to your home!"

"Jack's right Rachel. We'll get you back home." Arcee nodded with a serious look in her optics. I noticed, unlike with her earlier suspicion, she was completely sincere in her promise. She said it so matter-of-factly, I almost believed her.

And I did want to believe, so, so badly.

"Any idea when Fowler's coming back?" I quickly changed the topic, more to prevent myself from dwelling on the topic then anything else.

"No idea. That man come and leaves when you least expect it," Arcee informed, sounding slightly annoyed. Well that was great news.

"And I have to stay here until he comes back?" I asked flatly. Arcee nodded and shrugged in a 'what-can-you-do?' way.

"Will you be coming back after you get Jack home Arcee?" My eyes couldn't help but travel over to Rachet who was typing something on a screen. I kind of didn't want to be alone with the grumpy old bot for any extended period of time. Arcee gave a knowing smile.

"Bumblebee and Bulkhead should be getting back soon. And who knows? Maybe you'll get along with Rachet." Rachet was apparently not as engrossed in the project as I previously thought, as he immediately scoffed at the idea.

I looked around once again as another question came into my head (I was certainly asking a lot of questions), after noticing the distinct lack of a serious character.

"Where's Optimus?" I asked.

"Out on patrol. He won't be back for awhile." Arcee explained. I couldn't help but feel disappointed. There were questions I'd like to ask him. About Cybertron, his relation to Megatron. Which reminded me…

"So tell me about yourself Jack. How'd you meet the Autobots?" I turned to ask Jack normally. It was normally, right? I wasn't being suspicious?

Arcee's optic's narrowed, and she looked like she was going to tell me off when Jack started to answer anyway.

"It wasn't that exciting I'm afraid. Though at the time it was far _too_ exciting. Witnessed Arcee and Bee take down some Cons- me and Raf, that is- and we were taken into their protection. Miko… well Miko tagged along I guess." Jack seemed engrossed in the memories. I nodded. I turned to Arcee, serious.

"And Megatron?"

Arcee held a fist out. "Space debris after his space bridge was blown apart." She opened her servos to demonstrate an explosion. "Now _Starscream's_ the leader of the Cons," she said in a clearly mocking tone.

"Hmm." So we're definitely past the first few episodes introducing the show, and if Megatron was assumed dead and Starscream was in command, we must have still been near the beginning of the first season.

"We'd better hurry home Arcee, I'd rather not find out what happens if we're not there by the time mom is. It was good to meet you Rachel," we shook each others hands, and he got up to walk down the stairs. Arcee turned to focus on me, looking at me with something that I couldn't identify. Considering me kind of? Maybe, that was the best I could guess. I brought my hand up nervously to wave good-bye, but she had already transformed.

"You'll be back tomorrow?" I quickly called down just before Jack got onto Arcee.

"All day tomorrow, it's Saturday so were off," he affirmed. I watched as Jack put on a helmet and held onto Arcee's vehicle mode as they sped out into the world.

And then there was two.

I sat back onto the chair and rolled it over to the rail, peering over at Ratchet. His fingers danced across the foreign keyboard typing in a foreign language, as information quickly darted across the clear green screen in front of him.

"So what's the update Doc?" I asked as he shook his head, optics still focused on the screen.

"There's no record of this item anywhere in our database, nor in the Iacon database like I assumed it would be. From what I can make of its properties, it seems to be a transformable weapon, like a Decepticon Hunter, yet it most certainly is _not_ one. It's incredibly durable, trying to disassemble it only led to my tools breaking!" He was obviously very distressed about his tools breaking. "Without being able to look inside of it I'm afraid research is at a stand still." Well, isn't that wonderful information?

"Once Bumblebee or Bulkhead returns I'd like to run some tests concerning the artifact and its effects relating to you." He had a concerned look on his face...plate.

"What's the matter?" I asked, confused. It wasn't like it could kill me, right?

"The item forms a bond with its user to be able to form what is desired. For a Cybertronian, it wouldn't have any adverse effects, but for a human?"

"Whoa, wait Doc," I halted him with my hands out in front of me. "Are you saying I could _die_ from using the thing?" A horror began building in me as I processed what Rachet had said. It would make sense for the rod to be made to fit Cybertronians, but it had worked fine for me in the forest. I had _felt_ fine, I think, but then at the hospital it didn't do as I said. The whole thing was confusing. 

I felt that warm and shiver from before go down my spine as Ratchet pointed what must have been some kind of health scanner at me.

Well I feel violated.

"I need to conduct more research, but it would be best to avoid using it until it's heath effects have been determined." He studied the results, before turning back to his work, leaving me to do as I will.

I leaned back into the chair and stared up at the dark abyss above me. I tried to think back. What had it felt like to hold it? Was it radiating me with a poison? And if it did affect my health, what could I do about it? It was stuck to me, so I couldn't get rid of it. Considering it hadn't teleported back into my hands already, I assumed there was a range to it, which is well and good, but I'd rather not have to stay in one place the whole time I'm in this universe just to avoid a teleporting stick.

I hobbled over to the couch and curiously turned on the TV. A sitcom was on with a family of four eating dinner. I laid down onto the couch and watched the unfamiliar show as the little girl said something and a laugh track sounded. Soon a soothing calm washed over me and sleep overtook me.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I know I said I'd post this yesterday but a lot of things caught up and I didn't manage to finish the story in time. I'm not so satisfied with this chapter I'll admit, but I needed a good transitional chapter.
> 
> Comments appreciated.
> 
> Also note: I do not own Transformers. Rachel just asks too many questions.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

I awoke groggy and dangling half off of the sofa. There was crust I rubbed out my eyes and I yawned, before just giving up on the whole process of waking up and falling back into the soft cushions were my body heat had made it nice and toasty.

" _Burrr waaaaaup"_ a loud electronic sound came from behind me. I rolled around and slightly opened opened my right eye to see a giant yellow robot with a headpiece that looked like it belonged on a bike rider, it also noticeably had it's mouth covered by said headpiece.

My mind gave me Bumblebees name immediately, but it took me a minute to remember why Bumblebee was at my house.

He was not at my house, and this was not home. I had fallen asleep on the couch at the Autobot Base.

I draped my arm over my eyes trying to block out the light that had made my sleep uncomfortable (not to mention the couch hadn't lent itself to be the best place to sleep either). My mind wasn't shutting down though, and the brief moment where I had a chance to fall back asleep had past. I was awake now.

Bee buzzed again, and I thought maybe I heard a concerned tone in it. I had no idea what he was saying though, so I dropped my arms to my sides and stared straight above me. There was a funny shaped rock I noticed, and I pretended it was a mutant rock that was secretly spying on the base, waiting for the right time to fall and strike someone on the head. 'Victory!' it would think in its final moments, just before it crumbled into a million pieces having fulfilled its purpose.

Man, my imagination can be depressing.

"Beep whoop," Bumblebee said very concerned now. I look over at him for a moment before getting half up, my back leaning against the arm rest.

"I'm fine Bumblebee, it just takes me a little bit to get up," I smiled and stretched a bit, my bones cracking as I wasn't as cramped anymore. My bladder was full and I was hungry. How long did I sleep?

"What time is it?" I asked looking over the couch and around the hanger. I found Ratchet at his screen in the niche, but everyone else was gone. Bumblebee beeped and buzzed again, but I shook my head.

"Can't understand you Bee," I said apologetically. I stretched my legs out and the knees popped. I looked around for my crutch and found it slightly underneath the couch. I pulled it out, and pulled myself up, an uncomfortable pain emanating from my bandaged foot. I needed to check out my foot too, add that to my to-do list.

I hobbled over closer to Ratchet, and yelled over to the Medic.

"Hey Ratchet! What time is it?" He flinched and glared at me.

"You don't have to yell human. I can hear you at normal volumes just fine," he shook his head and focused back onto the screen.

"Oh," I cringed. Whoops, that's cool though, they must have fine tuned their hearing so they didn't have to strain to hear humans.

"What time is it? And where is everybody?" Or every Bot-y? Ah, puns.

"At the precise moment you asked it was 7:32:132. AM." I didn't want to be the one who pointed out he didn't need to be that precise. "Arcee and Optimus are out on patrol. Bulkhead is who knows where, and of course Bumblebee and myself are here- and I can guess as to what you'll ask next. No, I have not discovered much else about the artifact, but I have seemed to have found a signal..." He tapered off, as he rubbed his chin in thought. He then hit a button and a picture of Optimus with a voice frequency measure came onto the large screen in front of him. It was angled enough that I could see it as well.

"Optimus there seems to be a Cybertronian signal my scanners are picking up. What are your orders."

"Hmmm. Where is this signal locating from?" Optimus' voice came out, from where I couldn't tell, but it was loud and clear. Ratchet pushed some buttons and a map of the world with a red dot that pulsed was placed near the center of the Arctic on the green tinted screen.

"The Arctic it seems," Ratchet replied, he didn't seem to happy about it. I heard thudding footsteps behind me and looked to see Bulkhead had entered the room, probably from the yet-to-be-seen-hallway.

"Do we have the necessary equipment to safely investigate the signal Ratchet?" Optimus asked.

"Yes, but barely."

"Me and Bee can go check this signal out," Bulkhead said as he smashed his fists together. "We might run into some Cons' and I've been itching for a fight." Bee whirred in agreement.

"Yup-up-pup! This is an in-and-out mission Bulkhead! Sub-zero conditions can cause permanent system damage."

"Update us on your missions progress Bulkhead, Bumblebee. Arcee and I will be back at the base momentarily." The call was ended, and Ratchet began hovering over the Bots' mumbling about "protection" and "necessary precautions". I watched his fretting and began to think. I couldn't for the life of me remember which instances they'd gone to cold places. It was multiple times, i'm sure, but this specific incident I couldn't remember.

"Hey, where's a bathroom?" I asked. I really had to go.

"Down the hall to your left," Ratchet dismissed, focused now on a scanner, much like the one he had used when I first met him. I took my time carefully going down the stairs and towards the hallway entrance. I'll admit I felt a little bad taking advantage of Ratchet's distraction to get permission for something he'd probably refuse if he wasn't distracted, but I really did have to go.

But maybe after I could do a _little_ exploring. Just a little wouldn't hurt, right?

I hobbled down the hall as fast as I could, partially to avoid Ratchet changing his mind, and partially because I didn't know how much longer I could hold it in. I was in a rush, so I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings. The hallway was big (obviously) and there was wiring and tubes all above the ceiling and some tubes nearer to the ground. The walls were blank for awhile, and just when I was beginning to question if Ratchet had given me bad directions I saw many doors past a split that opened to the right. Lucily someone had taped a piece of paper that read "Bathroom! Please do not remove (or else I'll beat you up) -From Miko" There was also a bunch of doodles of stars and a figure (who I believe is supposed to be Miko) punching towards the reader. I rolled my eyes and entered. It took me a moment to locate the light switch in the dark, but when I did, fluorescent tubes of light revealed the room.

The bathroom was large, and split into two. There was a long row of toilet stalls directly to my left, and a row of four sinks and mirrors across from the stalls, the wall it was attached to partitioning the bathroom. I quickly opened the stall and mentally whined when I saw there was no toilet paper. I tried the next, then the next,and finally prayed that the last one would be my saving grace. The last stall, to my great relief did have toilet paper. I did my business and washed my hands, taking the time to wash my face with some soap as well.

I looked at myself in the mirror.

My brown eyes stared back at me, bags under them and a weariness inside them. I was surprised my acne wasn't coming in full force, considering how easily it usually developed without my skin care routine back home. My hair was a tangled mess, but considering everything, I was surprised that I didn't look as bad as I felt. I went ahead and washed my mouth, using my finger as a toothbrush, gurgling and spitting another two times. Curious, I sniffed under my armpits and instantly regretted it. Three days without a shower apparently wasn't good for smell, who'd of guessed? I went to check out the other side of the mirror wall and found an array of showers. It made sense considering this was an old government building, but I didn't care whether it did or not, I just jumped in. I quickly took off the bandage for my right foot and set it outside the shower along with my clothes, while I kept the crutch with me. There wasn't any soap, but I was okay with that, I turned on the shower and welcomed the freezing water. It was fine by me! Just forget that I'm shivering right now. I tried to quickly untangle my hair with my fingers, and, thankfully, the water either warmed up or my body acclimated to the cold temperature. I scrubbed my body down the best I could, before I got the bright idea of taking the soap and wetting a paper towel to scrub my body down. I did so, and it left small pieces of paper on me, but with a further wash it all went down the drain. Once I was satisfied, I turned off the shower and stepped out into the cold air. I tried to carefully go to the paper towels to dry myself off without getting my feet dirty as I didn't want the dirty bathroom floor to somehow create an infection in my foot. It was great feeling clean again, the only thing that I wasn't so happy about was that I had to rewear the clothes from the hospital as I didn't have anything else (I'd unfortunately left my pajamas in Agent Fowler's car). I tried to dry off my hair as best I could, but it still left it damp. Satisfied, I added to my to-do list to eventually clean the bathroom and restock it. I put on my left foots slipper (I'd really like tennis shoes or something more practical), and carefully lifted my right leg to a sink.

It wasn't pretty to say the least, but not as bad as it had been yesterday. The big toe was an angry red, and the hole (which I barely could see under the bandage as I didn't want to take it off. I didn't have a replacement yet) looked like it was starting to heal. I took a paper towel and carefully cleaned and dried the foot for extra cleanliness. I washed the bandage as best I could, and then dried it until it wasn't damp. I then carefully rewrapped the foot and placed it back down to the floor, a slight pain going up my leg at the bit of pressure I had to put on it to be able to grab my crutch.

I was done! So I left the bathroom, making sure to turn off the lights behind me. I looked around, considering whether I should go explore or go back to the main hangar, but my rumbling stomach demanded food. Meaning, as much as I wanted to explore, the need for food trumped that and only the Bots' knew where I could find this needed sustenance. I began back towards the hanger, longingly looking down the unseen hallway in front of me before continuing past it.

I overheard voices in the hangar as I approached.

"We're fine Ratchet!" The bellowing voice assured.

"I will be the judge of that!" An older sounding voice countered. I reached the end of the hallway to see the scene before me.

Ratchet was herding Bee and Bulkhead to benches he had set up, placing on them tubes and flitting around them with a scanner. I heard the sound of vehicles approaching, getting excited thinking it was Miko, Raf, and Jack, but was slightly disappointed that it was Optimus and Arcee.

Only _slightly_ though!

Bulkhead, clearly annoyed at this point, took off the tubes on his chest, and the tubes let out a hiss of gas.

"I told you, Doc, we're fine." Ratchet quickly placed a hand on the giant's shoulder and forced him to sit back down.

"The only way to be certain you're fine, Bulkhead, is to endure standard defrosting procedure." He came closer to Bulkhead and pointed at him. "You know prolonged exposure to sub-zero conditions can cause permanent system damage," The Doc admonished.

Optimus and Arcee stepped forward."Ratchet," Optimus called, taking Ratchet's attention away from Bulkhead. "Have you learned anything more about our Arctic find?" Optimus asked.

"Not yet," Ratchet replied. He walked over to his desk space. "The pod can't be opened while it's frozen solid." He indicated to the uppermost screen where a picture of something frozen could be seen (if I had glasses). I climbed up the stairs and came closer so I could actually see. In the meantime the conversation continued.

"Can't we just melt the ice?" Bulkhead asked, the tubes reattached to his chest.

"And risk overheating whatever's inside? It could be fragile or debilitated. No, it needs to melt in it's own time." Ratchet shook his head at the idea.

"Was there anything else in the area that could relate to the pod's purpose?" Optimus asked.

"Not that we could pick up on the radar Optimus. There could have been, but we don't know," Bulkhead grumbled. They couldn't have been in the Arctic long considering it had just taken the whole time I was in the bathroom (though to be fair I was being extremely slow) before they came back.

Optimus seemed to think for a moment, and I reached the top of the stairs and quickly hobbled towards the screens, looking over to see a frozen metal pod.

"What is it?" I asked. Optimus looked up at me, and for a second I thought he looked confused.

"It's what Bulkhead and Bee found in the Arctic," Arcee responded. "Look familiar?" She asked, clearly testing.

I shook my head. "It's a Cybertronian pod, it's what's _inside_ that might be familiar." A frozen pod…

"When are Miko, Jack and Raf coming?" I asked changing the subject.

"I can pick them up," Bulkhead volunteered. Bee buzzed in agreement.

"Oh no you don't! You both need to finish the defrosting procedure." Ratchet immediately shut them down. Bulkhead wasn't going to take it at that though.

"Come on Doc! The sun will thaw anything left stuck in our chassis."

"While I'll admit, heat can thaw out any excess frost that may be in your system, it's _better_ if was done here."

"But your saying it doesn't have to be here." He smiled smugly.

"Can I go with?" I interrupted. I was getting tired being in the main hangar.

"Sure." Bulkhead allowed.

"Absolutely not." Ratchet immediately refused. Rachet and Bulkhead glared at each other, neither seeming to want to back down.

"Come on Doc," I teased, trying to break the tense mood. "This is the perfect opportunity to test out the transportation thing. You know, with the stick?" Ratchet frowned, and looked to Optimus for the final verdict.

He had been thinking the whole time, and with the decisions now resting on him, his looked towards Bee and Bulkhead.

"Bulkhead and Bumblebee may go to pick up the children, and Rachel is allowed to accompany you."

"Yes!" I pumped my fist in the air, and hurried to get down the stairs, but before I could get to the stairs, Optimus continued, stopping me in my tracks.

"...On the condition that you do not inform Agent Fowler about this." Optimus stared into my eyes and I mimed sealing my lips and locking it with a key. The gesture seemed to confuse the big robot.

"Sealed and locked," I explained.

Ratchet, already having changed his focus on ensuring the two Bot's were ready to roll out, scoffed.

"Like human locks aren't extremely easy to break." I rolled my eyes.

"Than cross my heart and hope to die," I said as I crossed my heart with my left hand.

"Why would you wish to die?" Ratchet asked confused.

"It's a saying- forget it," I gave up.

I got down and Bulkhead and Bee transformed. I jumped into the backseat of Bulkhead (I had a feeling, Miko would want the front, and that she might be upset if I took her place). Inside was green leather seats, nice and clean like a newly bought car. I buckled my seatbelt and rolled down the window.

"Make sure you monitor the stick!" I called out to remind Ratchet as we drove off, then rolled it back up. I watched excitedly as we went through the tunnel and the gate opened, though coming out wasn't nearly as cool (or terrifying) as coming in. As Bulkhead drove off of the concrete and onto the sand, I turned around to watch as the gate closed behind Bee and two pieces of rock came seamlessly together to create the illusion of a cohesive, uninterrupted rock face. I turned back around and looked excitedly towards the front, just as we got back onto a concrete road.

"So, tell me about yourself Bulkhead!" I asked, giddy at finally being able to spend time alone with one of the Autobots (Ratchet doesn't count).

"Uh, well what do you want to know?" He asked. It was weird there wasn't anyone in the driver's seat, and it still unsettled me at a core level.

"Hmm, let's start with the Wreckers. I'll admit I don't know much, who was a part of it?"

"Oh that brings me back. Me, Jackie, Ol' Barnacle Butt, Kup…the whole Wrecker team," he gave out a deep laughter that seemed to shake the whole vehicle. "Good times, good times."

"Ol' Barnacle Butt?" I asked. I'd never heard that one before.

"Yeah Seaspray. He's probably looking around the cosmos for us, knowing him. He reminds me of your Earth pirates, but uh, his thing is space. Not sea water." I nodded and looked outside. Bulkhead will be so happy when he gets to meet Wheeljack. Hey, wait a minute. _I'd_ be able to meet Wheeljack! So cool! Totally not faning out here!

"Hey. If I could ask you a question?" Bulkhead asked tentatively. My eyes didn't leave the window, the sand was just too exciting, also maybe because I had no idea where to look when talking to Bulkhead. I just got a disturbing thought. What if I was actually sitting in what is usually his intestines or stomach or something like that? How gross would that be?

"Shoot."

"Well, you know a lot of Bots, right? Do you know… who's, you know, out there still?"

"Oh Bulkhead," I whispered, but still loud enough where he could hear. "I know as much about that as you do. I just know different Bot's name, and what happened to them in a _different_ time line or reality or whatever. Things are different here," I tried to explain. It was a half-truth, I did know some of the Cybertronians who were alive, Wheeljack amongst them, but at the same time I couldn't tell him _every_ Bot who was still online because I didn't _know_ every Bot who was still alive.

I smiled.

"For example, the Arcee I'm familiar with is pink."

"Pink? Your processor must be fried, because there isn't a chance in all of Cybertron that Arcee would _ever_ be _pink_." He did another of his bellowing laughs, and this time I laughed with him.

"Like I said. It's different," I smiled. The town of Jasper could be seen in the distance now.

"How about we go to easier questions? How old are you Bulky?" I asked. He chuckled.

"You never ask a Bot his age, let's just say I'm far older than you kid."

"How about Bee?" I asked curious.

"BabyBot? He's couldn't be older than a few million years. The kid has had a lot of tough experiences though, what with emerging during the war. His was one of the last batch of Bots to emerge from the Well of AllSparks."

"A few million, huh?" I asked awed. It was incredible, but hearing it, that this was a being who'd been alive before humanity had even existed was a jarring experience. Millions of years.

"Yeah, you humans maybe last a single century, right? How do you manage to do anything with so short of time?"

"Uh, we manage. It's about having goals and steps in one's life is all." I already had a general idea of what my life would be. Graduate, work, marry, have kids, then grow old and die. That was the plan, heck I'm pretty sure that's most people's template.

To a being who lives so long, we must be like a single grain of sand in the wind.

I then thought to the Robots in Disguise cartoon. I had attributed the lack of continuation of the human compatriots from Prime's story line to being because Hasbro wanted to distance the new show from Prime, but being here a different reason wormed itself into my brain.

It was because we would always be only an infinitesimally small portion of their lives. We didn't matter.

It brought me to a silence for the rest of the ride into town. We passed by building after building until we started going through a residential neighborhood. Bulkhead pulled into the driveway to a one story white house with a simple wooden door and we waited.

It didn't take long for Miko to come out of the house and practically float into the car.

"Bulkhead!" She greeted as she opened the passenger seat. "And Rachel! This is great! Bulkhead play track 3, you know, from the CD I gave you yesterday?" She got in, and as she closed the door, a loud heavy guitar started playing from speakers that seemed to surround me. I instantly regretted choosing to go with Bulkhead instead of Bee.

"Miko!" I tried to scream over the music.

"Whooohooo!" She yelled without a care in the world. Great, she couldn't hear me. I lapsed into silence then. Bulkhead continued down streets, now going the opposite direction, until we reached another neighborhood and we pulled up to a one story house with a garage connected to the main home. It took a moment, but I recognized the house as Jack's home. His mom was a nurse wasn't she? So she was often absent from the house. Said black haired boy came out of the house carrying a plastic bag. When he looked up, he hesitated for a moment looking around, before seemingly giving in and approaching the car. Miko rolled down the window and the loud music blared out onto the street.

"Come on in Jack, four makes a real party," she said mischievously. I shook my head at her tone and called over her.

"Just come on in Jack, it's probably not a trap." Probably.

At my voice, Jack smiled and opened the rear door opposite to me, and I waved.

"Hey Rachel," He got in, shut the door, and put on his seatbelt.

"Sup Jack?" I said, trying to sound way cooler than I am. Both Miko and Jack laughed, and I smiled.

"Wha-what was that supposed to be?" Miko asked.

I grinned at her. "That was my terrible impression of Jazz," I said as I tried to bring up my glasses, before realizing I didn't have any, and awkwardly putting my hand back down.

Bulkhead had stopped I realized a second after, and he had turned off the radio.

"You know _Jazz_?" Bulkhead asked incredulously. I nodded, not getting what the big deal here was.

"Yeah, Optimus' second lieutenant, overall one of his closest friends and ally."

"Whose his second-in-command?" Bulkhead asked suspiciously.

"Ultra Magnus?" I replied. "I think, of course," I added at the end just in case. Bulkhead only hummed and restarted his engines, as we continued down the road, this time without any music. The sudden interrogation had ruined the mood.

"So both of your parents are okay with you being out on the weekend?" I asked. I knew Jack had plenty of excuses he could use, but I'd always wondered if Miko even cared.

"My mom's a nurse and usually works on the weekend, so as long as I'm home before her, I'm good," Jack replied. I nodded, then looked over at Miko expectantly.

"I usually go out on my own on weekends anyway. My host parents are used to it by now," she said it so nonchalantly it took me a moment to process what she had said.

"Wait, what did you use to do?" I asked curious.

"That is for me to know, and for you to find out," she smiled at her mysteriousness, and I rolled my eyes.

"So did you go to school Rachel?" Jack asked. I smiled at him and nodded.

"Freshman University extraordinaire," I even did jazz hands (Hah! Did that count as a pun? If I ever got to meet Jazz, I had to do that).

"Who talks about school on a weekend?" Miko huffed in annoyance. "Bulkhead, how about track 4?"

The ride continued in deafening noise until we got near to the base. Bulkhead slowed down, and looking into the mirrors, I could see Bee was in his Camaro form and following behind us. We past the stop sign and headed towards the gate. I slightly winced still, even knowing it'd be perfectly fine, I couldn't help my friendly self-preservation instincts. We passed through fine though, back into the metal tunnel until we reached the main hangar. In front of us was Rachet, and behind him towards the groundbridge was Arcee and Optimus.

Miko was the first to get out, and I followed after, leaving Jack the last to get out of Bulkhead. I looked over to see Raf getting out of Bee as well. Once all the humans were out, they both transformed into their bipedal modes.

"Miss us Doc Bot?" Miko called out to Rachet as she got out of the car. He groaned.

"Shouldn't they be in school?" Rachet asked to anyone who was listening.

"On Saturday?" Miko asked, clearly offended by even the mere idea. She gestured to herself with both hands. "We have the whole weekend off," she lazily gestured to Rachet as she passed him towards the stairs "to spend with you."

Rachet shook his head, clearly offended by even the mere idea.

Miko waved to Optimus, and I followed her towards the stairs, but stopped halfway to wait for Jack and Raf. Jack walked towards Arcee, looking at the open groundbridge and then back to her.

"What gives, Arcee?" He asked stopping in front of her. Arcee crossed the rest of the distance.

"Tag-team Jack," she explained. Her right servos swept towards the groundbridge, while her left she placed on her hip. "It's my turn for exploration duty."

"Oh, too bad," he shrugged than crossed his arms. "It's a beautiful day for a ride. Would hate for you to feel guilty for leaving me indoors." Arcee got the undertext, and now both her servos were at her hips.

" _Arctic_ exploration duty."

"Indoors where it's warm," Jack quickly shifted, pointing towards the stairs, leaving to travel up them. Raf's little feet brought him to where Jack was standing before, and he looked up amazed.

"The Arctic? I've always wanted to see snow," he sounded hopeful.

"I would invite you to join Rafael, but the conditions are much too extreme." Optimus replied, clutched his right servos into a fist, than opened it to indicate towards Arcee and himself. "Even for we Autobots."

Raf looked down, disappointed. "I...understand," and when he looked up, the disappointment was gone. Arcee gave Raf a half smile in apology, and Optimus went to go into the groundbridge, but hesitated and looked back down at Raf.

"But I will bring you back a snowball," Optimus offered.

"That would be awesome!" Raf said happily. I watched as they walked the rest of the way into the Bridge and a flash of bright light shone. A shiver still went down my spine at the sight of the ground bridge, but thankfully it was quickly powered down. Miko lightly tapped my shoulder and indicated with her head towards the couch, with Jack and Raf following behind. I looked over at Rachet and he was tinkering with the groundbridge controls, sparks occasionally flying from it. I was going to ask him if anything had happened to the stick, but he seemed busy, and I didn't want to disturb him. Anyway, I would have noticed if it suddenly appeared, right?

"So, what do you guys think we should do today?" Miko asked Bee and Bulk behind me. As they continued to talk my focus brought me back to what had just transpired.

Snowball… Optimus just promised Raf a snowball, and Rachet was having trouble with the controls, not the best timing if you asked me. Where had I heard that from.

No... not where, _when_?

Rachet became visibly agitated with the control.

"Bulkhead, Bumblebee! Here! Now!" He looked over towards them and pointed at them and where he was. I walked over towards their side on the second floor and leaned against the rails. Rachet was desperately pushing buttons on the screen above the lever, while said lever was sparking with electricity coming off of it. I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen. I cringed.

Bulkhead seemed upset by something.

"You can't boss us around just because the boss is out." Oh, was this a continuation of Bulkheads annoyance with Rachet?

"I need some heavy lifting, the groundbridge is down," Rachet explained, still frantically trying to work the control. Bee gave two confused whirrs.

"Optimus and Arcee made it through just fine. It's bringing them _back_ that concerns me," Rachet said looking at the two Bots. "Now remove those panels," he indicated towards the panels he was talking about. "Chop-chop," he said while making chopping motions with his servos. Bulkhead and Bee hurried to lift the heavy panels, while Rachet checked the wiring and got out tools on his person to further dismantle the groundbridge. I looked at Jack and Miko sitting on the couch playing a game, then noticed Raf entering the hallway to the other parts of the base. A concern hit me in my heart, seeing his expression was a little down, so I decided to follow him. Everyone else was distracted, so there was no one to tell me I couldn't go.

Getting down the stairs took me a little bit, so by the time I had gotten down and started down the hallway, I couldn't see Raf, but I could hear his footsteps. I slowly followed the sounds, as my thoughts brought me back to the events that had played out so far. Arctic, Arctic find, ground-bridge stopped working, Raf, Miko, and Jack were here… Damn it! If I had rewatched the series instead of starting on Robots in Disguise I'd remember what all this led to!

The sounds had stopped, and I realized I had gone further into the base than I'd intended. I had no idea where I was.

"Raf?" I called out, starting to feel a bit weary at being alone in unfamiliar surroundings. I could have sworn I heard a noise, so I began to follow it, turning a corner, than turning another.

All the halls looked the same, and they were all empty. My heart started beating heavily in my chest.

"Rafael?" I called out again.

I heard a loud scraping next to me and a scream burst from my lungs.

I accidentally tripped as I tried to flee away from the wall that had been the source of the noise, my breath caught in my throat as I starred in apprehension towards the wall.

Nothing happened.

Breath Rachel, breath. In and out, in and out. Like that. Now calm yourself, calm.

"Rachel?"

A scream burst out of my mouth again before I covered it with my hand. I looked up to see Raf, just Raf, thank God. I put a hand on my chest and breathed a sigh of relief, and chuckled.

"You scared me there for a second Raf," I said in another sigh of relief as I got back up with my crutch and dusted myself off, checking to make sure I was okay and hadn't hurt myself again.

"I thought I heard someone calling my name," he explained, and I nodded sheepishly.

"Yep. That was me, just got lost... for...a second…" I tapered off.

Because in Raf's arms was a Scraplet sound asleep.

_Scrap._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So no more of the crazy schedule I set for myself last week. It was difficult for me to get out two chapters in one week (though that's really my fault for making my spring break promise in the first place). I tried to get this chapter through in time as well but missed my own deadline. My schedule still stands though:
> 
> ***New Chapter's every Friday or Saturday****
> 
> I'm getting rid of the time part though.
> 
> All the new followers, to you I say hello! And Thank you!
> 
> Comments are appreciated greatly as well, even if it's anonymously, or without an account! So comments, questions, criticism, confusion? Leave a comment! I can respond here or directly to you (though if I don't, it means it goes towards spoiler territory).
> 
> Also note: I don't own Transformers. Just Rachel's cliffhangers, scrap, that's not a good thing is it?


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

I was silent as I stared at the small innocent looking grey robot. Its large purple eyes briefly opened, curious of the new organic, before snuggling deeper into Raf's arms to return to sleep. It's eyes seemed to take up most of its small body, and it had multiple thin pincer like appendages that were tucked underneath itself and around Rafs arm. The only signs it was alive was the occasional twitch of its legs.

A deep expanding fear engrossed me as my eyes stayed transfixed on the small form. Said fear quickly mixed with anxiety and panic as I realized that: One, Raf was carrying the dangerous Scraplet and, two, that the Autobots were in extreme danger due to these things eating everything metal in sight, especially living metal. The Scraplets would be all over the base by now, and an image of their whirling mouths of razor sharp teeth caused me to tense. These things would eat everything in the base unless we could manage to contain them. They had to of come from the pod and got out as it defrosted. I mentally cursed myself for not figuring out what was happening sooner, the whole situation seemed so familiar to me. I should have caught this.

"Rachel?" Raf asked hesitantly. His voice pulled me out of my swirling emotions as I blinked and looked at him. He had an uncertain and apprehensive expression, and I realized that I was scaring him. I pushed my emotions down.

"Raf, put it down," I demanded as coolly as I could manage.

"What? Why?" He asked confused. I stared down at him and frowned.

"It's dangerous, we need to inform the Bots of the infestation." Raf pulled the Scraplet closer to him and seemed to curl into himself to protect the small robot.

"What are you talking about?! It's harmless! It hasn't hurt me at all, and it's really friendly!" Raf insisted. He seemed resolute not to leave the Scraplet behind, and my frown deepened. We didn't have time for this. The longer the Autobots were unaware of the infestation, the more the Scraplets would eat at important controls and eventually find and try to eat the Cybertronians. Not to mention that with Optimus and Arcee out in the Arctic, they were at serious risk of death. The Groundbridge problem won't be solved until the Scraplet one is. In the show, if I wasn't mistaken, Arcee and Optimus had almost completely offlined due to the long extent of time they were stuck in the subzero temperatures.

Raf's expression seemed so sad…

Well...we needed proof anyway, and Raf was meant to carry the thing, when he gets a stern talk-to he'll understand that the thing's dangerous.

I shouldn't interfere with the events that are supposed to happen, right? Raf was supposed to show the Bot's the Scraplet.

It still didn't sit right with me, I mean, did I have to put Raf in danger just to fulfill some self-appointed no-interference rule of mine?

"Fine. Which way is back? We should show the Bots." I massaged my nose as I conceded, and Raf's expression lifted up a tad.

"This way," Raf took front, and I followed behind him, trying my best to not make too much noise with my crutches, least the Scraplet wake-up and attack my only source of getting around at the moment. My thoughts went into myself as I tried to recall what happened with the little termites in the show.

Optimus and Arcee almost freeze, that I know, but as far as how we contain the robots…

The cold. We had to gather them all and freeze them into stasis. Of course! That's how we found them, so it made sense that's how we get rid of them too.

The lights in the hall flickered, and I heard a chittering of noises above me in the darkness. The lights then flickered back on, and I realized that I'd slowed down as I was thinking, falling behind Raf.

I quickly hurried to catch up to him.

5

Apparently I get lost easily, as we weren't actually that far from the hangar, just two lefts and a right away. As we got closer to the end of the hallway, Raf hurried his steps forward, determined to prove me wrong about the danger, I guess.

"Hey guys! Look what I found," he shouted out as we came past the threshold into the room. It took me a moment to locate the Bots, who were still servos deep in the Groundbridge. Rachet was holding onto a control board with two singed bite-sized holes in it. At the sudden loud human distraction he looked down to Raf.

"We're busy!" He scolded Raf, shaking his head to turn back to his work.

He did a double take, and his optics locked onto what Raf was holding and went wide in horror.

"AHH!" He screamed, optics filled with fear as he quickly stubled away, dropping the board in his hand. Bulkhead and Bee desperately backed away as fast as they could along with Rachet, their guns out and pointed towards Raf and I.

No, not us, but towards the Scraplet.

"WHOA! WHOA, WHOA!" Bulkhead screamed out, Bee chittered nervously. Panic and fear dosed any sense of reason with them, and I half expected one of them to actually try to fire. Miko and Jack must have had the same thought, as they quickly appeared next to Raf and I, trying to calm down the Bots.

"Hey, hey! What's with you guys?" Miko asked, both her and Jacks hands raised in a placating gesture towards the Bots.

Bulkhead shook his head and jostled his gun, "Scraplet! Scraplet!" He screamed out in horror.

Raf was confused and worried now.

"What's a Scraplet?" he asked.

"Shhh, it's dangerous and we're making too much noise, it'll wake up," I warned, turning my gaze to the Bots and back warily towards the sleeping menace.

"Dangerous? This thing?" Jack scoffed in disbelief, gesturing at the small sleeping bot. "Are you kidding me?"

"You're giant robots!" Miko reminded them a bit too loudly for comfort. "Scrappy here is...teeny." Miko pinched her fingers to demonstrate the scale difference.

"You have no idea of the damage that teeny thing can do!" Bulkhead again shook his head in dismay and backed further away. Wait, was he… shaking?

"He wouldn't hurt anything! We even played a little." Raf insisted again, petting the Scraplets head. It purred.

Well, it was… cute. Aww and it's little eyes are opening from slumber. I can't… I don't think I could sentence this thing to death…

It's head split open to reveal a whirring chain of incisors into an endless mawing death pit and it jumped from Raf's arms darting on it's pincer like legs towards the Autobots.

_HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK! KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!_

Bee and Bulk desperately fired at the small demon bot, but it was too fast. It jumped onto Bees legs, quickly gnawing on his plating leaving gnashing marks as the creature tried to devour the Scout. Bee fell backwards and tried to stop the beast, but it wouldn't stop as it tried to eat through Bees hands when he went to grasp it, moving up his arm. Bee managed to swipe the devouring bot off of him, but it quickly got back up and ran towards Bee, hungry for more. I stood there in shock.

Raf ran up to the bot and began smashing into it's head with a crowbar again and again and again, until sparks we're flying from its dented head, and still Raf did not relent in his attack on the Scraplet. After a few moments, Jack finally managed to stop Raf when he had his hands raised for another attack.

The small bot was reduced to nothing but a tin can.

"Whoa, easy there, killer," Jack joked with a concerned tone, trying to calm Raf down from his rapid breathing and desperate actions. Miko put her hands on Raf's shoulders to console him as he took in deep panting breaths to calm himself down, before he gasped and made his way quickly towards Bee.

I blinked. Did Raf just...? Wow. And I just stood here doing nothing? Damn it, I knew this was going to happen, so why did I put Raf through this?

"Whoa, I did not see that coming," Miko commented and all three of us stared at the beaten remains of the Scraplet.

"I'm sorry Bumblebee!" Raf quickly apologized, and Bee buzzed consolingly to Raf, "Is he going to be okay?" Raf asked the Doc. He was probably examining the damage on Bee's leg.

"Only a mesh wound. He'll live." Rachet said to Raf, still shocked and processing what had just happened. Bulk seemed a upset.

" _Now_ do you believe me?" He admonished Raf. "All Scraplets do is dismantle machinery and eat _anything_ metal - especially _living_ metal." I flinched at Bulks words, and turned my eyes finally turned away from the Scraplet remains to stare at the Bots. My eyes shifted to the "mesh wound" on Bee and I felt a guilt build up in me.

I could have prevented that.

"Well, bugs squashed, game over, right?" Jack assured, though hesitantly.

"No." Rachet frowned. "When it comes to Scraplets, there's never just one… and I fear I know how they got in here." Ratchet got up from where he was kneeling and went over to a monitor, servos quickly typing something in. Whatever it was he was trying to do, Ratchet was getting agitated, grumbling curses under his breath.

"We need to check the pod in hangar seven. For now, it might be best to stick together," Ratchet relented after trying with other green monitors with no such luck.

Bulkhead hit the rock wall behind him in anger, making me jump in surprise.

"Scrap. And we let them in?" He shook his head and he had a guilty weight in his optics.

I shook my own head, trying to clear it. Focus. Priorities. Hints don't harm, they help.

"Optimus and Arcee need to be contacted, who knows how long we'll still be able to keep in touch, they need to be warned of the situation a.s.a.p." I looked at Rachet as I reminded him. He quickly went to another, larger screen and began typing, Arcee and Optimus' signal popping up like it had earlier in the day, but unlike earlier, the whole screen was flickering into static.

"Rachet to Optimus, do you read me? We have a situation," Rachet attempted to put in more commands, but nothing but static continued to come out.

"Maybe we can boost the signal?" Raf offered.

"No no no. This is-" The screens started glitching, and Ratchet quickly tried to save the connection before the screens blanked, but to no avail. They went blank. Ratchet slammed a fist into the keys.

"The Scraplets must have gotten into the com-link system!"

A heavy silence fell over the room.

"How many we dealing with here?" I asked. If we could figure that out, we could determine a course of action. Behind me Miko picked up a crowbar much like the one Raf held, and began swinging it around.

Ratchet shook his head.

"We'll need to go to hangar seven, where the pod is located. We can better determine what we are up against with more information."

"Uh, yeah we'll all go. For...uh… safety," Bulkhead said, clearly not wanting to split up, Bee quickly buzzed in agreement.

"Don't worry Bulk! I'll beat those little things to a pulp!" Miko assured as she swung the crow-bar like it was a bat. I shook my head.

We all began walking towards the hallways, Ratchet in front with a scanner on him, sweeping the area in front of us, Bee was behind him guns out, us humans, and finally Bulk in the back, who was looking around nervously, ready to both simultaneously scream and shoot anything that moved too much. We were all fairly quiet for awhile, trying to stay vigilant in case any Scraplet's were approaching or near-by.

Miko nudged my arm and I looked over at her. She had a mischievous smile on her face.

"This is your first adventure, huh?" She whispered. I frowned.

"This isn't a game Miko," I admonished. She seemed to deflate a little and rolled her eyes, leaning a bit away from me.

"So you're one of _those._ " I looked at her confused. One of _those_ what?

"Like… Jack!" She explained unhelpfully. Still had no idea where she was going with this.

"I'm not like Jack. I assure you." I responded.

"Hey! What's so wrong about being like me?" He asked offended.

"Nothing's _wrong_ I'm just saying-"

"Hush!" Ratchet shut us up. We continued in silence until we reached a large hallway (though really everything was all large) with silver garage doors. Fluorescent bulbs lit the area in between the doors, and as we began going past the garage doors, I noticed many of them were locked down with (probably) Cybertronian technology. Bold black letters were painted above each hangar, and we walked until we reached the one with a seven above it. Rachet walked up to it and began waving his scanner around the door, I guess to ensure it was safe? Or maybe that's just how he opens doors, as the lock came of with ease in Ratchet's hands.

We entered the large hangar (though it was significantly smaller than the main hangar), and it was surprisingly sparse. The large room was framed and supported by the common yellow metal found elsewhere in the base, but placed in multiple places within the room was red heat lamps. A large barely-frozen pod of metal stood in the center of the room, and disturbingly a large hole resided on it's side. Ratchet was maybe ¾ it's size, and the Doc bot was waving his scanner all over the place. I caught Jack's eyes and he shrugged. Guess he had no idea what we were supposed to be looking for either. After a moment Rachet changed his hand tools into a light and flashed the inside. Bulkhead and Bee cowered, while I tensed for a moment expecting a Scraplet to jump out from the pod.

But the light revealed nothing. The pod was completely empty inside.

One thing for sure though, was that whatever was inside busted out already.

"It's a trap - a Scraplet trap."

"Uh, an empty Scraplet trap," Bulkhead noted. I swear, if Cybertronians could gulp, that's what Bulkhead would be doing.

"Most likely ejected into space eons ago, only to wind up in the Arctic, where the temperature kept them in stasis."

"Until we brought the thaw," Jack finished the trail of though the Bots had gone down.

"Now they're wide awake and ready to brunch," Miko said, was that seriously? Did she understand that this was dangerous now?

"So… how many are we talking about?" Raf asked the question on my mind.

"Thousands," Rachet answered, turning off his light and transforming his hands back into… well, hands. "And the power malfunctions and ground bridge damage is sure sign that their infestation is well underway."

"So what's the plan?" I asked. I was ready to rumble and tumble with these nightmare termites.

"If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, they will reduce the entire base to a scrap heap," Ratchet grumbled, clearly not liking the idea even as it left his mouth.

"I say we bug out of here and let them keep it!" Bulkhead said, clearly frightened of even being in the same building as one of the Scraplets. Bee buzzed and enthusiastically nodded, a fan of Bulk's plan.

"Evacuation is not an option," the Doc looked into Bulk's optics, clearly not backing down. "If we don't get the groundbridge back online stat, Optimus and Arcee will perish."

"They...will?" Jack asked surprised and disturbed that his, wheels? Friend? Guardian? Partner? Was at current risk of death. Miko, for her part, seemed very upset and stormed in front of Bulky.

"Bulkhead you never run!" She was mad at his cowardice? Yes, that was probably what she'd come to the conclusion of. That Bulky was being a coward.

But I knew better.

"Miko. You haven't seen a swarm of these things devore a Bot." His expression was back to that heavy guilt. "I have."

"They pick you apart from the inside out, going for the small juicy bit's first. Fuse by fuse. Circuit by circuit, until there's nothing left… and I mean nothing!" He was imploring Miko to understand, it was like he was seeing the scene in front of him, he was so passionate. "Not even your optics," He ended with a shutter.

I could barely begin to imagine something like that for humans, to be torn apart like that, it gave me shivers. Miko, for her part, turned to Jack for help in frustration. I guess they were a friendly duo when push came to shove, and had each others backs.

Made me a bit envious.

"You have to let us help," Jack insisted.

"We're not made of metal!" Raf followed up, as he opened his arms wide to showcase his nonmetal body.

"Yeah, the Scraplet's can't hurt us!" Miko joined in. The doc was rubbing his chin in thought again. He hummed.

"Typically, I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality...but it would appear to provide an advantage. Under these extremes." Jack sighed and mumbled an "okay good" under his breath.

"So we pair off, one Bot one human. I'll watch your back while you repair the groundbridge."

"Make that two watching your back Ratchet," I quickly added in. Wasn't going to roam the hallways when I had no idea where's what. Not to mention I'd need help with the freezing, as Jack and Ratchet would have a better idea on how to actually make it happen.

"And we go on a bug hunt," Miko smirked and indicated to the two shivering Bots, who clearly were not looking forward to this adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very late with this chapter and it's not long. I was originally going to try to get the whole episode into one chapter, but with school and a writers-block, I just couldn't finish it yet. 
> 
> Comment's are appreciated!
> 
> Again sorry for the really late release.
> 
> Also Note: I don't own Transformers. Nor Prime. Just Rachel, who's slowly already changing things.
> 
> Can you spot the differences from the episode so far?


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

My stomach grumbled angrily, and I cringed. Here we were, trying to quietly get back to the main hangar, and my stomach took the worst opportunity to be loud. Damn it though! I'm starving here. Cut a gal some slack.

I held my stomach as I walked besides Jack. Behind us was Ratchet, which felt strange considering it was me and Jack who were protecting the huge Bot instead of the other way around. Bee, Raf, Miko and Bulkhead had headed out to check the rest of the base.

I severely doubted that any of us could help the Bots much if the Scraplets had their optics set on eating one of the huge walking metal robots. There were too many of the little shredders. If there was a swarm of them, there'd be no chance in saving the Bots. They'd be eaten alive. Which brings me back to the main reason I choose to go with Ratchet and Jack.

"Hey, so, I was thinking. Why were the Scraplets in stasis while in the Arctic?" I said over my shoulder to Ratchet, trying not to be too loud. We were almost to the hangar.

He focused his constantly shifting gaze from his surroundings to me, taking a moment to process that I had said something, and then a moment more to process the words that had come from my mouth.

"The sub-zero temperatures must have frozen them into stasis," he explained, "And with their small bodies they would... almost immediately freeze in such temperatures." His optics widened in realization. He totally knew where I was going with that train of thought. Score one for Rachel in helping the AutoBots!

"So, what? Can we send the Scraplets on a one-way trip to the Arctic for stasis?" Jack asked.

Ratchet nodded quickening his pace, passing me and Jack.

"Yes, yes that might well do, but that makes it all the more imperative we get the groundbridge back online and running."

We turned the final corner to see the opening to the hangar, and I for one was a bit relieved. Despite the hallways size, it felt uncomfortably confining. Maybe that's just what metal eating demon robots do to my sense of safety.

In more positive news, I think I've gotten the hang of using my crutch.

The ache in my stomach reminded me of my hunger.

"Hey, Jack… this is kind of embarrassing to ask, and probably not the best time either, now I think about it, but uh- would you happen to have any food?" I asked hesitantly.

Apparently out of all the things I could ask, he hadn't expected that one, but he quickly nodded.

"Yeah, that bag I brought from my house earlier? I packed two lunches in it." He rubbed the back of his head. "I thought, you know, the Bots probably didn't have any human food, so I was worried you'd go hungry."

I beamed at Jack. I had a new favorite character. I mean, before I'd always thought Jack was a boring character, but now I was just so thankful. Food! I wonder what he packed? Who cares? Not me, sustenance please!

Priorities Rachel, focus! We needed to get this whole thing done, so _then_ I can eat.

We entered the hangar.

"What can we help you with Ratchet?" I asked immediately. The faster this went, the faster I could get to eating. Well, maybe hold off on the word "eating" for now, as the image of those whirring maws still sent shivers down my spine. Ratchet shook his head.

"You can keep quiet while I work," Ratchet said as he bent down to go through the open circuit board panel.

"We'll be on the lookout Ratchet," Jack nodded, holding out the metal pole he'd been carrying in front of him.

You know, it just occurred to me that I'd completely forgotten about my glowy alien stick. If it wasn't for Ratchet saying it might affect my health, I would have run (or hobble quickly?) to grab it right now. As things stood though, having something like it might be worth the risks. If not by me, maybe one of the Bots could use the weapon. It'd probably be safer too.

How good was a crutch at being a bat? Cause I had nothing else to use as a weapon on me.

I looked around and saw nothing of use either, just a fire extinguisher near the stairs that led to the second floor. Ratchet on the other hand was very busy. He flitted to and fro from the groundbridge controls to the circuit panel, back and forth. This went on for awhile.

"How's it going over there?" Jack finally asked, clearly worried about getting bad news.

Ratchet grunted as he stood up from his crouched position above the ground bridge circuit boards.

"I've repaired the damaged conductors and rerouted the central conduits," Ratchet said increasingly frustrated and irate. "But the ground bridge still won't receive power!" Ratchet punched the floor in frustration and rubbed his face with his other hand. We were on the clock, and the longer Optimus and Arcee were stuck in the Arctic, the higher chance they'd perish. Think Rachel, what needed to be done? What was the problem? I racked my brain, but no answer came apparent. A detail like that didn't make it into my memories apparently.

There was the sound of clinking metal and I froze. Jack stood ready, searching his surroundings with a metal pole in hand, ready to smash the Scraplets when they appeared. His attention snapped to a wall above him, and I followed his gaze.

There, surrounding and coming out of the circular vent on the wall, was Scraplets. About maybe a hundred of them were hanging onto the wall, like a swarm of flies ready to devour a decaying corpse. In sync with each other, the Scraplets looked up and focused.

Focused onto Ratchets form.

There mouths gaped open into horrid grins, and they one by one jumped off of the wall, flying towards us.

"Whoa!" Jack jumped bringing the metal pole closer to himself. "They fly!? You never said they could fly!"

"Ratchet watch out!" I cried towards the medic, as I dropped to a crouch when the Scraplets flew over my head. I heard the thunk and whirring of their mouths as they reach Ratchet and began feasting. I was scared. I was scared, I was scared, I was scared, I was _scared_. He was screaming, and it sounded horrid, and painful.

"Ratchet!" Jack called out. He desperately tried hitting the Scraplets, the ones still flying towards Ratchet, the ones on him, but it wasn't enough.

I was scared. I shouldn't be, come on body, _move_! There! To the left, next to the stairs. The fire extinguisher. Where were my crutches? I'd… I'd dropped them, there's no time, I couldn't carry the thing and use my crutches anyway.

"Jack! Use the fire extinguisher!" I called out pointing to it. His head snapped towards me and then towards the extinguisher, quickly putting two and two together. He dropped the metal pole and ran to grab the cannister, one hand holding the nozzle, the other on the trigger. He began spraying the Scraplets on Ratchet, while the Medic writhed on the ground in pain. After a moment, the Scraplets began falling off of the Bot, frozen husks too cold to move. StilI, I held my breath for above us, a swarm of the flies swam in circles, waiting to strike.

What could I do? What could I do to help?

I heard the soft clang of metal on concrete besides me and I flinched, scared a Scraplet had changed its mind and wanted my flesh and bones instead of metal, I slowly looked besides me. It wasn't a Scraplet though.

It was the glowing cyan rod. It had fallen from my pocket.

How- It doesn't matter.

I heard the heavy clunks of footfalls and looked behind me to see Bulkhead and Bee, along with Miko and Raf. The two Bots were worse for wear, strips of paint gone, and an oozing blue substance leaked from the wounds, clearly the result of a Scraplet attack.

"Ratchet get the patch fix, we're leaking energon like- WHOA!" Bulkhead exclaimed, cutting himself off after noticing the swarm of Scraplets above us. They all looked up, surprised to see the large amount of Scraplets.

Oh no.

The swarm dived down towards Bee and Bulkhead. Bee tried to fire blast after blast at them, but to no avail, they were just too tiny, Scraplets attached to Bee and began eating. Bulkhead let out a cry, "Eat this!" transforming his right hand into a sort of mace, swinging it around to hit the bitty bugs. But, realizing they were also eating what was supposed to be his weapon, Bulkhead instead screamed. Miko and Raf jumped in to start swinging their crowbars, attempting to smash the bugs they could. Jack began spraying the Scraplets frozen.

And I… I…

My hand gripped the small rod that had fallen from my pocket. I took my crutch and stood up, holding the rod out.

Please work, _please_ work.

The rod grew in length, extending out in front of me, with the opposite end growing thick with thorny ends.

It was a bat with spikes.

Huh.

The Bots screams snapped me back to reality, and I hobbled over to help smash the bugs. It was difficult with one hand (and on more than one occasion I almost hit Jack), but the Scraplets were surprisingly easy to pulverize. So I smashed, and continued smashing until all of the Scraplets were down and dead. Miko and Raf went around to the frozen Scraplets and beat them further to make sure they stayed down. The Bots groaned. I sat down, tired and drained by the event.

"We get them all?" Jack asked.

Whirring. A loud whirring noise was getting louder from the hallways and vents, along with the chittering of tiny legs. I flinched.

"Hardly," Ratchet huffed out. "These were just scouts."

Bee buzzed exhausted, and let his body fall onto the ground.

"So the - the rest of them know were in here?" Bulkhead stated fearfully propped against a wall on the floor.

"And if we allow ourselves to become their next meal, Optimus and Arcee will never make it home. We _must_ get the groundbridge operational." Ratchet affirmed. This was despite him leaning on the ground bridge controls to keep him from falling to the ground.

"So we can send the Scraplets back to _their_ frozen home," I nodded.

"Back to the Arctic!" Raf said, realizing the plan.

" _If_ we can get the ground-bridge back online," I reminded. That was our whole problem.

"Think Ratchet think!" He muttered to himself. "If the groundbridge is still down…" Ratchet rubbed the back of his head, deep in thought until his optics grew wide, "There must be a breach in the energon fuel line."

Bee buzzed in pain, and Bulkhead groaned. They clearly weren't able to get up, let alone travel to fix the energon fuel lines.

"If we weren't breaching, one of us could get back over there and fix it." Bulkhead relented. He wasn't pushing himself outside of his boundaries, good.

"Where do we find it?" Jack asked immediately. There wasn't any hesitation in his voice or his gaze. He was determined to help. The Bots looked surprised. Why? Did they not expect us to want to help them?

"And how do we fix it?" Raf added. Bee buzzed something and Raf shook his head.

"No Bee, we can do this!" The small boy insisted.

"Yeah! We can save the day!" Miko said, pumped up to kick some small robot chassis.

I couldn't understand it. Were they excited to help, or did they just not have any sense of self-preservation?

Ratchet sighed and weakly pointed towards a locker in the back, right next to the hallway door. Miko jogged over to open it. I couldn't see what she had found until she came closer to the group again. It was a toolbox with some kind of welding tool. Ratchet reached over to grab his own tool box next to him, searching through it until he pulled out a metal sheet. He handed it over to Jack carefully.

"Travel down the energon fuel pipe to check for any sign of leakage. Once you find where it's leaking, patch it with this sheet and weld it to the pipe." Jack nodded. I'm pretty sure he has experience with welding tools, so he should be fine. I took a few deep breaths and got back up again with my crutch, my left hand carrying the glowing bat.

"You don't look so good Rachel," Miko commented. I steeled myself.

"I'm fine. Just a bit shocked is all," I dismissed. I'm fine, just hungry and shocked. I'm fine.

"Miko's right Rachel, you're pale. You should stay here, keep an eye on the Bots, we'll go get that leak fixed," Jack insisted. I wavered. Should I stay or should I go?

I'd slow them down.

"Go." I looked away from their gazes, still frustrated at how absolutely useless I was being. Realistically, I knew it wasn't terribly surprising I was being useless. Just because I was some random girl from an alternate Earth that knew some stuff didn't mean shit. I didn't know where things were, I was injured, the only thing going for me was this glowy stick and I had no idea how it worked or even if I should use it (or if I even can). It was a fluke that it worked when it did, if it hadn't I'd… I'd of just sat there cowering.

Anyway, they didn't need my help. I already knew that.

"Just… be careful. Okay?" I asked softly, looking back towards them. Damn, I had only known these kids for, what? A day? And I already felt obliged to worry about their safety. Miko gave a lazy wave of dismissal, Jack nodded, and Raf gave me a thumbs up.

Miko, Raf and Jack then left, leaving me with the three injured Mechs.

What was this a sick bay, with the injured Bots and the recovering human? I walked over to Ratchet and looked up at him, his eyes were closed and his head hadn't left the spot he'd leaned against.

"Okay, what can I do to help stem the… uh… bleeding?" Was it called bleeding? Probably not. Stem the line break? Cease the flow-jo? Patch the pipes?

Ratchet tiredly opened his eyes, staring down at me. It took him a moment before he pointed towards something in the vicinity of the giant vacuum tube to right.

"There should be stabilizer-patches over on the benches. You should be able to reach them, they're small shiny patches of metal. Can't miss them." I nodded and went over to the direction he pointed.

Actually, I'd never really checked this area out have I? Ratchet was busy at the time, so Miko couldn't give me the tour over here. One thing for sure was that things were a lot bigger compared to looking down at it from the second floor. To the right was a large vat or vacuum of some kind that reached to the ceiling, yellow stairs wrapped around it leading to who knows where. In front of me was two metallic benches or beds, they were big enough for any of the Bots to fit on (even Optimus or Bulkhead) and its height started at my shoulders. This was going to take some maneuvering. I reached over and to place the rod on the bench, then, balancing myself with my free hand, swung the crutch over besides the rod. Now on one foot and both hands free, I managed to pull myself onto the bench. Behind me, I listened as a conversation began.

"So if we get... _when_ we get the groundbridge open. Do we send the creepy crawlies out or bring our Bots back in?" Bulkhead gruff voice managed to huff out.

"Optimus and Arcee will be fresh meat. If we bring them in first, the Scraplets will have no reason to leave." There was a pause in Ratchets words. I found the small patches, it kind of looked like aluminum foil. "We'll need bait." I pocketed the patches into my jeans.

"Where are we gonna get bait?!" Bulkhead said angrily. My attention snapped back to the conversation, yelling tends to do that. "The Scraplets already helped themselves to everything in here!" Don't jinx us Bulkhead. Not that trouble wasn't already going to find them. The hangar was eerily quiet.

I sat at the edge of the bench, reaching my crutch to the ground to use as a pole to stabilize my right leg. Then, I jumped down, trying to focus my weight onto my left leg. It kind of worked, or at least, it kept my right foot from the impact, but it was uncomfortable for my left foot. Finally, I reached up to grab my trusty bat. Siduated, I made my way back over to the Bots.

"I got the patches," I called out.

"Good. Start with Bumblebee, his previous wounds reopened," Ratchet commanded.

"Okay, so what do-" The distant sound of clanging interrupted me. We stayed silent as we listened.

The distant clanging was getting louder, turning into banging, with chittering noises accompanying it. The sounds were echoing within the hangar to the point I couldn't tell where it was coming from other than somewhere above us. I hesitantly brought the bat up, not ready for this at all.

The vents above us flew off as swarms of the Scraplets poured into the hangar, thousands upon thousands of the things to the point they blended into a giant mass of whirling teeth and purple eyes.

"Ahh!" Bulkhead quickly ducked further behind the wall, trying to avoid being seen by the mass of above us.

My stomach dropped and my hands began shaking. I don't think I could kill all of these even if I tried.

"Ratchet! All systems go!" Jack came running into the room. I was so relieved to see him! Thank God!

"Fire it up!" Yelled Miko, pumping her fist in the air. I was so so happy. We'd get out of this, everyone was fine!

Ratchet achingly slow, managed to stand and reach the ground bridge lever. "Ground bridge…" He pulled the lever down, and not being able to hold himself up anymore, he collapsed. "Activated." One by one the rings of the ground bridge glowed until the portal opened.

Bulkhead mumbled something, I could barely hear anything over the sounds chattering and whirring. He barely managed to stand up, yet he began waving his arms to get the swarms attention. "Ready for the main course? Come and get it!" He yelled, as the swarm pierced down towards him in a swirling mass. Bulkhead hobbled down the groundbridge path and entered the portal. The grey swarm followed him. Every single one of them, into the groundbridge portal. I kept my head down as they passed for what seemed like a long time.

There was silence.

I brought my head back up to look at the portal. A ringing was left in my ear after the cacophony of noise, and the sudden loss of it was jarring.

"Bulkhead!" Miko cried out as she rushed to the entrance of the ground bridge. Jack managed to hold her put, though not without a struggle.

It was fine. He'd be fine, I knew that.

But still.

_What if?_

We waited.

And then, Bulkhead came back through with Optimus and Arcee behind. Cold, frozen Arcee and Optimus, but _alive_ Arcee and Optimus. A gushing relief filled my heart and a tension left me.

Ratchet managed to stand again by using the groundbridge controls as support. I looked around, the Bots were worn, beaten, but living. Alive. That… was a feat.

I didn't want to stay here.

6

The laptop beeped in sync with the readings it was getting from Bulkhead.

Bee and Arcee laid on top of the beds, Bulkhead on the ground, while Optimus and Ratchet sat on top of boxes. Jack was on laptop duty for Bulkhead, labeling the new data title for organization later per Ratchets instructions. Raf was on the other laptop, Miko watching the screen over his shoulder.

"Report Bio-circuitry status?" Ratchet commanded.

"Levels are rising" Jack assured giving a thumbs up to Ratchet.

"Excellent. Rafael, keep a close watch on Bumblebee's electro-pulse monitor." Ratchet nodded. "Miko." He called out to get her attention. "Check Bulkheads interface patch."

"It's steady" Raf affirmed.

"Looking good!" Miko called out, giving a thumbs up as well.

"Perhaps _you_ should be getting some rest yourself, old friend." I overheard. They were being quiet, but unlike the others I wasn't that busy, so I could listen in. I pretended to busy myself with opening and inspecting the contents of the lunch Jack had packed. "You saved quite a few lives today." Optimus smiled at Ratchet. He smiled! It was cute! (and a bit dreamy. Stop mind, stop). I got up and walked over to Jack.

"It...wasn't all my doing." the old medic smiled down at us, and I pretended not to notice by taking a bite of the PB & J Jack had packed and by looking at the laptop screen. Raf put a patch onto bee after struggling to get onto the bench, while Miko continued checking the status of the readings on the laptops. I took the opportunity to ask Raf some questions about the readings we were receiving from Bee. Bee buzzed, Raf translated. Ratchet said something else to Optimus, but this time I couldn't hear.

The lunch was a basic PB & J, with an apple, some water and some kind of packaged sweet roll. I quickly finished the sandwich in my hand under no time at all. Next I aimed for the apple.

"AAAAAAAAH!" Miko screamed out.

Jack and Raf stood ready with crowbars, I stood tense, eyes darting to the rod I'd set down behind Optimus. "Scraplet?!" Jack asked.

"No! Spider!" Miko yelled in horror. "Is it on me?" She jumped around trying to swipe the invisible enemy, shrieking all the while everyone else looked on.

"Did she just scream like a little girl?" Bulkhead asked.

"Yes. Yes she did," I replied, as I took another bite of the apple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed to get his done, but this will be the last chapter until the second week of May. Finals. Study. Gotta do it.
> 
> Comment's are appreciated!
> 
> Also Note: I don't own Transformers, nor Prime. Just Rachel, doubtful, doubtful Rachel.
> 
> Announcements are on my profile. I'm going to be busy for a lot of this month, so count on the chapter releases to be choppy and few in number.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

I perused the selection of video games available on the shelf. Unsurprisingly, most of them were racing oriented, or driving based. So, as I sat on the floor and began reading the back of the the game cases for the summary, my mind drifted.

Saturday was crazy. The Scraplets had done a lot of damage to the base, so all of Sunday everyone was trying to figure out what needed repair, and fixing what we could. There was a lot. Ratchet got the basics of communications back online, but the screens were still flickering. Power was fully fixed, of course, as well as the security systems as they were the two most important things to have up and running. Raf had a blast learning about the inner workings of everything, he had probably driven Ratchet insane with all of his questions but, surprisingly, Ratchet had allowed it and even answered some of the questions, though not without clear annoyance. Jack too had learned a lot helping Arcee with the power and security. Though, there was the incident when one of the security blasters frizzed and tried to kill them.

Ah, good times.

Now it was Monday. The kids were back in school and I was alone in the base hangar with Ratchet and Arcee. After the Scraplet event, I finally got an offer by Bulkhead to show me the rest of the base sometime. I was looking forward to it.

The glowy stick though… Ratchet had been baffled how I got it. When I told him I had just found it in my pocket, he was clearly concerned. There was a video feed he had set up to watch the stick just in case, but the Scraplet attack had caused it to frizz out. We wouldn't be able to check it out until after Ratchet gets the the video fixed, which, as he said, would have been easy if not for our current tech problems. I sighed. My problems weren't the main concern right now, so I'd have to wait.

And wait and wait and wait. Because none of these games are interesting and I was bored. I took my crutch and lifted myself back up walking over to the railing. Ratchet was currently servos deep in the Groundbridge control panels. It was on the frizz, sometimes working, sometimes not. Something about the "sensitive calibrations" were off. Arcee was currently cleaning her armor plating with a towel, leaning against the wall below me, a little to my right. She looked up when she noticed me staring, but didn't stop cleaning.

"Do you know if Agent Fowlers called?" I asked. The guy had just up and disappeared. Arcee shrugged.

"Not that I'm aware of. He'd usually call here or Optimus." So wait to ask Optimus. I groaned. I had a list of things I needed to ask the Agent: identity papers, a decent food supply, clothes, bandages, therapy, maybe getting a driver's license, school was probably halted until I could get back, but maybe I could get a phone or laptop or something? The Autobot base was lacking in the needed necessities for comfortable living. Mainly a steady supply of food and the lack of clean clothes was driving me insane. As appreciative as I was of Jack bringing me food, a PB & J wasn't a proper meal and I had to stretch the lunch to last all day. This couldn't be good for my health.

Well, if it's just for a little while longer, I could probably deal with it, but the work with the mysterious glow stick was very slow. Meaning the research into how I got here and how I can leave was going very very slowly.

"What do you know about traversing to alternate realities?" I asked the blue bot. Arcee smiled sadly at me and focused back onto the towel as she tried to get a spot between her right arm plating.

"Optimus should be coming back soon. You'll have to wait until then for updates on Agent Fowler." I groaned again, laying my head on the railing. I was bored. So bored.

"I usually have Jack do it but... would you like to help me do a routine diagnostic check? Wouldn't hurt to learn the ropes," Arcee offered. I stared at her.

Learn something that I can help Arcee with? Hell yes!

"Can I?" I asked now giddy, slightly leaning over the railing towards her. Arcee stretched and got off of the wall, turning around to face me.

"Sure." she said, her optics focused on my face, "but it isn't anything special," she warned. Not special?! Did she have any idea how many people would love to be in my place right now?! I quickly nodded my head and quickly began my way down the stairs. As I was more then halfway down the stairs, Arcee stopped me, holding out her left servos over the railing. I stared at the hand that was palm upward and flat.

"Huh?"

"It'll be quicker if I carry you," she answered my confusion.

Giant robot… wanted to carry me. She was right, that with my hobbling I would be slow, but… Hell, I'll do it for the experience!

I hesitently got onto Arcee's hand, making sure _not_ to look down, and _not_ thinking about how bad it would hurt if I fell. Not thinking of that at all, nope. I quickly sat down and held her thumb with my left hand, while my legs dangled over her palm, my crutch sat in my lap. Her hand rocked back and forth as she brought it back towards herself, and I felt the movement of her hand with each step she took. Arcee wasn't even that large compared to the other Bots, yet it was still terrifying. Each step reminded me of how small I was and how easily she could crush me. Arcee would never do that, I knew (that is, as long as I didn't get on her bad side), but the idea that she _could_ brought my heart rate up a million beats. We quickly went down the hallway, and got to the end way faster then when I had gone alone two days ago. Looking below, I became a bit nauseous seeing the bathroom door below me, and clutched Arcee's thumb closer to me.

"Not much one for heights I assume?" She asked.

"Uh, no! It's fine, just uh, accidents can always happen?" I gulped and looked up at her. Her blue optics stared into mine. Being so close I could see the individual ring of light surrounding a circular lighted center. Her eyes were lined with the same blue as her plating in a winged fashion. Her left eyebrow (or eyeplate?) rose up. Then she smiled.

"I have good reflexes, there's nothing to worry about." I didn't find her assurance particularly comforting.

We turned right, and I took the chance to finally get a good look at the hallway. The walls were concrete, with the occasional pillar attached to the wall. The walls were divided into two parts, a lighter concrete top, and a darker concrete bottom, with the darker concrete making a band across the walls dividing the two colors. On the lighter concrete were lights lighting the hall. Above us was fluorescent bulbs, as well as metal tubes and shafts. I couldn't help the shudder that ran down me at the memory of the Scraplets that had come out in swarms from the piping.

We turned left, than right, and right again. A long hall greeted us at the end of which were large garage doors, but it didn't look like the storage area we had gone to where the Scraplet pod was stored. I looked at Arcee curious.

"Those are our rooms," she explained. It surprised me, yet on second thought it seemed obvious. The Bots having rooms was never mentioned in the show from what I remembered, yet it made sense they'd want a private space of their own. We turned left at a branch in the hall, and the sound of metal scrapping echoed from a large open door near the middle of the hall. Before that though was another garage door.

"This one's mine. You are not allowed into here without my _expressed_ permission, understood?" Arcee warned, optics narrowning and her finger pointing accusingly towards me. I nodded.

It didn't escape my notice that her room was further away from everyone elses. She was supposed to be the solo/loner type, so it wasn't surprising. That was an issue developed and explored in the series, if I wasn't mistaken.

And shouldn't it be obvious that I shouldn't go into someone else's room without their permission? There was a gut feeling within me that the strict warning had something to do with Miko.

"What's that noise?" I asked changing the subject, as the clanging echoed again. We walked over to the open doorway, and my eyes widened.

Inside was a large room with red mats in the center taking up most of the room. On the sides of the mats was a variety of equipment. Weights, giant punching bags, benches, and other equipment I'd never seen before. At the back of the room was a single row of windows opening up to what looked like a firing range, a metal door on the right of the room, directly in front of us. On the mats currently was Bumblebee and Bulkhead, there chassis moving up and down quickly..

Bumblebee threw a punch and Bulkhead blocked it with his left arm. Bulk then swung his right servos in an uppercut, the force of which pushed Bee back and almost made him lose his balance. He quickly got his bearings though and went for Bulk again. Prepared, Bulkhead again went to block the punch, but Bee swerved around Bulkhead at the last minute and swept his legs causing the large Bot to fall down, the room vibrates slightly at the sound.

"Whoa," came out of my mouth. The noise brought Bee's and Bulky's attention to me and Arcee at the doorway.

I couldn't help the smile that came onto my face, even as I tried to hide it behind my hand.

"Wow Bulkhead. What would Miko think if she heard you were beat by Bee?" I asked, knowing full well that Bulkhead would not hear the end of it if Miko knew what had transpired. Bulkhead seemed to balk at the idea, face getting serious.

"You..wouldn't dare," he panted out. I hummed in response. Bee offered a hand to Bulky, and helped him back up. They were both panting, though why or how I didn't have the slightest clue.

"And hey… didn't Ratch say not to exert yourselves. What with your wounds and all?" I asked, concerned.

"That?... That was...just a scratch," Bulkhead inisted, still trying to catch his breath (Seriously, is it that their overheated? Is that how?). I was not amused by the response. If they weren't careful the wounds could reopen, or unmend? Whatever! Ratch said not to and he was Doc Bot! I sighed.

Bee buzzed and whirred. I turned towards Arcee, who had been watching silently, to translate.

"He said that we've had worst injuries." I knew they were right, but was I wrong to worry?

"What is this place anyway?"

"The Training room. Very bearbones," Arcee responded. It didn't look barebones to me, then again they were probably used to some high-tech ninja training room or something like that.

"Maybe… maybe one day you could teach me some moves? Just to protect ourselves from...Decepticons?" I asked hopeful to Bee and Bulky. Okay I just wanted to be taught how to fight by the Autobots. They're cool and I want to mimic them. Not only that, but I _really_ don't want to only be a burden. If I could learn some stuff, maybe I could at least be a bit more helpful.

Bulkhead and Bee looked at each other, then to Arcee, then to me.

"Rachel," Arcee brought my attention to her, "a word of advice? If you see a Decepticon? _Run._ Don't fight."

That hopeless, huh.

"Yeah. It's just... you human are..." Bulkhead brought his fingers together until there was barely any space between them, his optics squinted to further illustrate how small we are. "And you'd go…" Bulkhead squished his fingers together. Bee nodded his head and whirred in the affirmative.

Message received. Decepticons = Death. I nodded in understanding.

"Let's continue, I can show you how diagnostics are done," Arcee changed the subject. As we turned from the room, I waved the two Bots goodbye as they got back into position for more sparring. Arcee and I went a little further down the hall until we reached a thinner garage door. Arcee waved her hand near this little black box that was attached next to the door, and a green light flashed. The door opened and we quickly went inside before the door closed behind us. Lights flashed on in the room, temporarily making me blind before my eyes adjusted. I looked around to see a garage room like the others, but with a metal mesh platform with stairs leading up to it in the middle of the room. It wasn't very tall,maybe half the height of Arcee. Also, wires and tubes littered the floor, and a small human sized computer on the platform caught my attention.

Arcee slowly let her hand down, and I carefully got off, slightly dizzy from the whole carrying experience.

I think I'll try to stick to walking until I get used to that.

Once I was balanced and didn't feel like I was going to fall over the first step I took, I looked up to Arcee.

"So, how do we do this?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for foul fowls. Fowls are such foul creatures. Not hinting anything at all here for next chapter, nope. So, I hope you like a brief in-between chapter. Life isn't always exciting (except it totally is if you're living with giant alien robots. Even the mundane is still amazing).
> 
> Comment's are appreciated!
> 
> Also Note: I don't own Transformers, nor Prime. Just Rachel, who also wants to be able to kick Bulk's chassis.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"So you almost short circuited Arcee's blasters? How did you even manage to do that?! It was a routine diagnostics check!" Jack asked incredulously. I shrugged and let out a nervous chuckle.

"Well it turned out fine at least."

I was currently being interrogated in the main hangar by Jack and Miko on the loud explosion that had sounded just as they'd entered the base. It had apparently freaked Bee, Bulky, and Ratch out. No one was pleased to learn it was just my incompetence that had led to the incident (except Miko. Miko was sympathetic, bless her heart).

"Fine!?" Ratchet spluttered. "You could have seriously injured Arcee, not to mention kill yourself!" Ratchet glared over at me as he checked Arcee's arms. His anger would have been comical if it wasn't directed at me.

"I'm sorry! Okay?" I said for the thousandth time. What more did they want? A bouquet of flowers with dinner reservations?

Ratchet sighed, mumbling Cybertronian under his breath as he worked on Arcee's weapons. I suddenly felt an arm loop around mine as Miko began pulling me towards the couch.

"Forget all of that junk! I wanna see if I can beat you in racing." We plopped down, Jack shook his head and handed over a controller to me. Behind us, Bulkhead and Bee leaned over the railing to watch. I glanced around, noticing the distinct lack of a boy genius.

"Where's Raf?" I asked.

"He had homework to do, so he won't be coming until he's finished," Jack explained.

"I don't get why he doesn't just skip it. That's what I do," Miko said as she picked her car for the race. I looked back to the screen to pick my own vehicle.

"That's why you always get detention, _and_ why your grades are so low," Jack laughed. I smiled as we watched the timer for the race to start flashing on the screen.

A blaring siren sounded, and the screens began flashing red instead. My headshot to Jack, who looked just as surprised by the alarm, so I turned to Ratchet. He was quickly typing something on the monitor, Arcee behind him looking over his shoulder.

"What is it?" I asked, apprehension already building in my gut. Ratchet ignored me, and turned off the alarms. A call came in almost immediately after.

"Agent Fowler, please tell me you're here to take the human away," Ratchet begged. A video appeared on the screen. Agent Fowler? Finally!

"Tell Ms. Evensbrough to get ready to leave. Is Optimus there?" the man's deep voice came from the video. The middle-aged man looked to be driving at the moment, the video angled at what would be the center of the car's dashboard.

"Not at the moment, no. I'll let him know that you are on your way," Ratchet responded. Fowler nodded and ended the call just as Ratchet contacted Optimus.

"Optimus, it's Agent Fowler come to visit." Ratchet sounded unenthused. I handed my controller to Jack, and Miko pouted. Carefully, I got up with the crutch.

"I will be back to the base momentarily," the Boss Bot informed and ended the comm. I walked over to the railing next to Ratchet.

"So, you got the video feed up and running for our bizzare artifact?" I asked. Arcee glanced over at me, Ratchet didn't bother to.

"Yes yes. It is secured and being monitored closely. Any change and I'll immediately know." He waved me off, focusing back onto Arcee's arm.

"And, just for your information, we didn't inform Fowler about our little infestation Saturday. So keep it on the down-low, okay?" Arcee asked. It surprised me. Wouldn't they want to inform the government they had a metal-eating alien infestation… on second thought, I can see why they didn't want to let that one out.

The sound of the base entrance opening echoed down the tunnel, followed by the sound of a car and truck. I watched as a tan sedan pulled up to the front of the stairs and parked, followed by a long blue and red rig truck that split to turn and shift until it became the large and imposing leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime. The vehicle opened up and out stepped the man I'd been waiting for this whole time. I practically skipped down the stairs.

"Agent Fowler! Boy am I glad to see you! I don't even care if this was some part of your plan to get me to open up, I just _really_ want to be able to do things again. I'm desperate," I whined, clasping my hands together and begging him as much as I could with my eyes. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's been 2 days." That couldn't be right. It felt like a lifetime ago. "But if it makes you feel any better, _you_ and _me_ are going on a road trip." He pointed at both of us to ensure I had no disillusions as to who he was referring to.

"What joy," came out of my mouth with absolutely no joy to be found. At least it'd get me out of the base. But who was I kidding? If it was with the Agent this wasn't going to be pleasant. I couldn't help the small bit of anxiousness that grew in me. Where would we be going? Did I do something wrong? (minus the most recent weapons fiasco, that doesn't count)

"I need to have a word with Prime before we go. You ready?" He asked, tossing his car keys in the air and catching it. I shook my head.

"Almost. Let me quickly make a pit stop," I informed as I thumbed towards hallway behind me and began making my way to the restroom.

Agent Fowler shook his head at the kid and made his way to Optimus who was talking to Ratchet with Arcee leaning against a wall, listening in.

"Prime, a word if I may?" he interrupted. The mech looked down to the Agent and nodded. He indicated for him to sit down on an office chair across from them by the berths and they walked over to the more private area. Optimus keeled to get closer to the Agent, but not so close as to crowd.

"What new information have you to share Agent Fowler?" The Prime's voice questioned with his best attempt at tempering his volume.

"You know how we were searching the field little miss sunshine seems to have appeared in? There was a high amount of that unknown energy radiating the entire clearing. The energy signature's the same one that was detected from that night"

"I have read the report you sent us," Optimus affirmed he knew. Fowler nodded.

"Here's the kicker though, the scientists found an exact match to the energy signature readings you sent us for that artifact as well, they said that the artifact's signature most definitely matches a small section of the readings just exactly before the massive burst came tumblin' through."

The AutoBot leader hummed in thought. This meant the artifact appeared just before the massive burst. It wasn't assured that the artifact was the cause of the anomaly, but the correlation was there. It made it all the more imperative for the team to understand the strange item. The large burst of energy had peaked all measurements and reading equipment they had. By all means, nothing should have survived such a massive burst, not even a Cybertronian, yet the young Rachel had. Not only that, but the surroundings seemed undisturbed besides the traces. It was puzzling to say the least, and the discovery led to more questions than answers.

The agent watched the Prime as he considered the implications of what was found. If that stick was packing that amount of energy, who knew what else it could do. That wasn't even considering the implications of an object that can take people from alternate universes, if it really was the cause of Evensbrough's magical appearance. He wasn't a theoretical physicist, but he was fairly sure that something like that isn't supposed to happen. Then again, with these Autobots Fowler never knew for sure. This mess was getting above his pay grade (though if the Agent was being honest, most of what he dealt with was).

"And what of Rachel's legal status in your governments territory?" Optimus inquired.

"That's what I've been working on. There's not exactly protocol for humans from an alternate reality, and the higher ups have asked to meet her personally for assessment." Fowler explained. He hadn't liked it one bit. One moment he was working on legalizing Evensbrough's status and identity, the next he was halted by General Bryce to inquire as to who she was, how she knows what she does, what I made of her, ect. That wasn't what was grinding him though, no it was a comment mentioned in passing that Agent Cauley had informed them of the exact same and how he agreed with the idea bringing the kid on site would be the best way to assess if she could be of use.

That slimy, no-good, mother-

"I'm back! Just where are we going?" I came in, now relieved. I looked over to see Optimus and Agent Fowler in the corner. They clearly were having a private conversation, but now both stared at me. It certainly didn't help my nerves when Agent Fowler avoided my question.

"Get in, we have a long drive ahead of us." He opened the drivers door to get in. I stood there for a moment contemplating whether I should refuse to go, then realizing I didn't really have a choice in this, which only made my nerves worst.

"Uh, I guess, see everyone?" I _was_ coming back… right? Fowler wouldn't dump me somewhere and say good-luck to ya, right?

"Bye Rachel!" Miko yelled.

"Safe trip," Jack smiled.

Bulkhead nodded and Bee buzzed and waved. Arcee smiled and nodded, while I could have sworn I heard Ratchet mumble "good riddance".

Optimus Prime looked down upon me.

"I wish you a safe journey Rachel. We shall await your return."

My nerves dissipated just like that and was replaced with steel resolve.

7

My stomach did a backflip and my mind screamed at me in panic as we approached the military base. My breathing became short and shallow as everything bad that could happen flooded my mind.

"Hey, calm down. They're just going to ask you some questions. Get to know you," Fowler glanced over in concern.

Ask questions?! _Just_ ask questions?! My whole problem with this place is I have too many answers and not enough coping strategies to avoid questions! This is it! Game over! They're gonna learn everything about what's going to happen and then dissect me for research! Torture me for what i know! And worst of all, toss me aside once they got what they want and I'll be stuck here forever!

"Take deep breaths, calm down, no need to panic. I'll be in the room with you, so don't worry, just tell them the truth." Fowler awkwardly attempted to placate me.

Panic? What panic? Me panic? Nah, no I'm perfectly dandy! Dandy as a dandelion! I take deep breaths, curling up in the seat.

Calm. Down. Sl-owly. Deep breaths. In. And out. In. And. out.

…

Okay. Okay, so, I just tell them what I told Fowler and the Autobots. I'm from an alternate Earth where the Cybertronians are fiction. This fiction is similar to here, but it's not the same. Umm, I could tell them in the Bey movies there's Sector 7 which had NBE-1 (I.e Megatron) frozen. That's new info and will go to show just how different things are. Sector 7 wasn't a thing in Prime, right?

No need for the "your reality is fiction and I know what's going to happen. Your military sure is dumb thinking you have any chance against the Deceptions, oh and MECH is a real threat and are really the only humans that can go against the Cybertronians" conversation. Yeah, definitely leave that out. No need to crush their spirits like that.

I look out the window as we pass the security checkpoint to see the expansive concrete tarmac. Large silos line one side while on the other is a large building. Soldiers follow in line, jogging past us while jeeps roll by. The setting sun casted shadows over the base, the red bleeding to night.

I wonder how many humans have died due to the Deceptions.

My thoughts went to the scene where Darkmount towered over Jasper as the cannons fired onto the human military. Tanks, helicopters, soldiers… they never did address if those humans made it out okay.

And now that I think about it, why was the US military on the side of the Autobots? They had no reasons to get involved in the aliens war. No reasons not to be hostile to both sides. Yet, they understood they needed the Autobots.

I was afraid to ask what happened.

After all Prime started in Jasper, and it was made clear the Autobots had been on Earth for awhile before that. I'd have to ask when I got back. _If_ I get to go back. If I don't mess this up terribly and get locked up for the rest of my life. God, this line of thinking wasn't helping me. Everything would be fine.

Fowler parked his car in the fairly empty lot, turning off the engine. In front of us was a large grey building, three stories high with windows lining it facing towards the lot. Multiple doors were in the center, uniformed personnel coming in and out. Fowler didn't make a move to open the door, instead turning to look at me.

"Look kid-"

"Not a kid," came out of my mouth automatically.

"Whatever! _Listen._ You're about to meet some very important superiors of mine. The tip-top, so I want you to mind your manners, and show some respect _young lady,_ " Fowler warned with a finger in my face.

"I always have impeccable manners," I tried smiling, but my heart just wasn't into it. I was struggling as it was to keep my nerves to a minumum. My emotions did not go unnoticed by the Autobot liaison. He took out his phone to check it, then put it back into his suit pocket.

"We have some time, why don't you tell me what's bothering you kid? This isn't just about meeting the government is it?"

His words surprised me. Of course it was about that, right? That I would get in trouble for what I know of their world, messing things up for myself. Because to fail would mean I wouldn't be able to go home. Never to see my family again, stuck in a place where I don't know much outside of the aliens. Where nothing is real, yet it is, and it shouldn't be and I'm scared, and tired, and I've been avoiding thinking about all of these things, because the truth is…

The truth is…

"I just want to go home," I whisper. To say it aloud made it feel more tangible, like home was just a hand reach away. "And… and I'm scared that I'll become distracted, lose focus on getting back, become resigned." Once what my status here is decided by the government, my mind is yelling at me that it'll become too real. It's easy to get caught up in things at the Base, what with the Autobots and their human companions, but it's in the quite moments that the reality of my situation really hits me.

Fowler nods understandingly.

"There are moments in life where we don't get to choose what happens to us. Times when life sucker-punches you so hard, you can hardly get back up," the Agent looks out his window. "But there's life in you, so you have to _fight,_ to push forward. You can sit around moping and feeling sorry for yourself, or you can pick yourself back up and ask what you can do to improve or change or move on from your situation. It's only been about a week since you got here. No need to be so harsh on yourself, I can't speak for the Autobots, but i'm sure they're not expecting you to join their war. We all see it as an unfortunate accident, and are trying our best to get you back," Fowler pats me on the back, a bit too roughly. "In the meantime though, we need to go or we'll be late."

Was that... the Agent consoling me?

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Does that mean you believe me? That I'm not lying, or secretly with the Decepticons, or crazy?"

He scoffed. "The Decepticons would rather throw themselves into the fiery pits of hell then accept they need human help to do _anything."_ He shook his head, "No, I never really believed that... though I still think you're crazy."

Fowler opened the door and got out, and I followed suit a moment later after I internalized what he said for a moment. The sun was setting and the stars were beginning to show above the concrete building. Distantly I could hear the yelling of drills. We walk towards the entrance.

"Where is this anyway, Agent Fowler?" I ask, trying a lighter topic.

"We call it the Nevada National Security Site," he answers as he opens the door letting the cool air from inside come out, before the door closes behind us. I take in the large lobby, turning slowly to gather it all in.

"Also commonly known as Area 51," he grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to split this into two chapters, but this way flowed better.
> 
> Comment's are appreciated!
> 
> Also Note: I don't own Transformers, nor Prime. Rachel and me are too bad with tech to come up with something like Transformers.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Area 51? Well, it makes sense I guess. You have alien robots in this world, so the government made a secret sector to deal with them and anything they brought. Ignore the part where that name is infamous where i'm from (is it the same here? From the way Fowler grinned, I think it is the same here).

My immediate curiosity went to how old Area 51 is, as it'd give me an idea of how long humans have known about the Cybertronians. In the movie verse, humans, or at least the US government, had known about the Cybertronians for two centuries, due to the frozen big, bad and ugly they held. Depending on how long the government has known about the Cybertronians, I'd get an idea how their relationship with the AutoBots were received and developed.

Why is that any of my business? Because… okay, I was just curious. Even though Prime was dark for a kids show, it still wasn't _realistically_ dark. As in, human casualties on screen, dark. Plenty implied, not the same as shown though.

_And maybe tragedy will force me to confront that this is all real. That this isn't just a kid's show anymore._

The cool air conditioned room chilled me from the warm weather outside. We walked into a large lobby with white tiled floors. In front of us was a white wall and two sets of stairs at its sides which must lead to a second floor. There were guards directly besides us, standing watch at the door. A half circle desksat in the front of the wall behind which was a receptionist, a young male soldier. I could feel the eyes of the guards as we approached the receptionist desk.

I hate government buildings.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The guy behind the desk greeted.

"Yes, we're here for the meeting with General Pryce," Fowler responded, taking out a black wallet from inside his jacket and handing over two cards I couldn't see. The receptionist took them, looking them over and typing in his computer, before apparently being satisfied, and handing them back.

"You know where to go Agent Fowler?" the man grinned at the Agent, to which he waved off.

"Yeah, just get her through," Fowler said as he put back the cards in his wallet. The receptionist printed out something, and laid a pen next to it. He turned to look at me.

"So if you'll sign here, I'll get you a visitors pass. You need to stay with someone the entire time you're here, that means no wandering off, understood?"

I nodded, listening to the receptionist while also looking over the paper. It was basically a nondisclosure agreement. You can't tell anyone about this, not the press, not your family, not anyone, and no making things in the likeness of classified information (so making a knockoff of the Transformers is no good, huh?).

I signed the forms, got an ID badge, and then we were on our way, Fowler making sure I stayed strictly by his side. I tried to memorize the twists and turns of the halls, but I quickly lost track. Yeah, no trying to treck this place by myself. All too quickly we reached an office door, besides which was a plaque that read "General Robert Bryce". Oh boy. Calmdownnoneedforunnecessarypanic!

We entered the office and it was…

It was…

Very…

Ordinary.

Yep, definitely not what I was expecting. Due to my eyes not having adjusted from outside yet, it was a bit too dark inside the grey office for my liking. It was an average space for an office, and not in a bad spot either, considering the window directly across from the door (though blinds were currently up for some reason, not that it would help considering the setting sun). Grey walls, that cheap ugly grey carpet, two chairs, and a wooden desk was in the room.

_Oh wait! Is that a painting I see? What majesty! It really livens things up, doesn't it? A painting of jets._

A white landline phone sat on the desk, along with a golden name plate with "General Bryce" and four stars with a black background etched into the metal, and, least I forget, the General himself was behind the desk. Said general was on older white man with buzzed brown hair and brown eyes. He had a beefy face, and a mustache, like the most stereotypical Hollywood General you can think of. He was wearing a dark green military jacket, with pins and things I had no idea the half of meant, underneath which was a white dress shirt and a black tie. He looked vaguely familiar, but I had no idea where I'd seen the man. The General stood up, and Fowler entered the room first, giving a salute to the General.

"General Bryce," Fowler greets.

"Agent Fowler," he nods, then turned towards me, reaching out a hand that I take. The door closed behind me.

"And you must be Ms. Evensbrough. A pleasure to meet you," General Bryce smiled as we shook hands. I smiled back, hopefully politely enough, and not nervously, and very respectful and all that. What? How dare I accuse myself of nervousness?! I have guts of steel!

Well not literally, that would be impossible, except for the Cybertronians who were made of metal, but then could you really call their innards guts? Guts after all imply cellular biology, not… what were Cybertronians made out of? Questions for later.

The General then gestured to the corner of the room, where, to my surprise, there was another person. I couldn't see their face in the shadows.

The person stepped into the lighting.

"And this is Agent Cauley, you've met I assume?" The agent smiled in that creepy way and nodded towards me.

_Keep it civil Rachel._

I nod towards the Agent and smile.

"We have," I turn back towards the General. "And I'd like to thank you for your quick response to the situation. I was very...confused about what had happened that night," I chuckled. Talk about an understatement. Still, my mind had wondered to the "what if" question more than once since that fateful day I arrived, and I am very, _very_ thankful that I came out of that night alive at all.

The general gestured to the two chairs with blue cushions in front of the desk. I took one, while Fowler took the other.

"I'd like to start by assuring you Ms. Evensbrough that on behalf of the United States government you will receive the benefits of asylum status here until further notice. This will give you the documentation needed to do most things, though if you have any needs at all that we can help you with, please don't hesitate to call upon Agent Fowler. You can work out any details with him, and we'll try to make it work."

I beamed. This. This is what I wanted to hear, to not be in legal limbo. To have an easy cover.

"Thank you."

Why did I have an uneasy feeling? There was a catch to all of this wasn't there?

_There's always a catch._

"Accommodations wise, I can pull some strings and get you a start here if you'd like. A fresh start. I've been told you are already well informed on the aliens, and we could use as much of an edge as we get our hands on. You'd be paid a livable wage," he offered, and just like that my like of him went to zero. Of course they wanted to know what I knew. And I had no doubt that Agent Fowler also informed the General of what I'd told him.

"Infomed in the sense that my info can be wildly incorrect. This place isn't fiction anymore," I reminded. He chuckled and shook his head.

"No. No it's not fiction, but any information can be measured against what we already have and know." I nod in understanding, but I wanted to get a sense of my options.

"And if I wanted to stay with the Autobots?" I asked. The General leaned forwards, his fingers weaved together on the desk.

"You may if you would like to, but it's not the choice I would recommend." That caught me by surprise. At my confusion, the General continued.

"The Autobot base, while secure, is not meant for long term human habitation. And having a human constantly come in and out could jeopardize the security of the site."

"But it was originally built for humans to use." I didn't bother pointing out the other humans who come in-and-out of the base as well. I'm starting to have a wiggling doubts that the General knows about Miko, Raf, and Jack.

The General nodded. "Most of which has been stripped for the Autobots convenience. Not to mention the dangers of living with giant robots that are at war." The tone he was using was chastising, like I was some kid that needed to be talked down to. Did he seriously not know I knew the dangers of such a choice?

"No offense General, but you can't help me get back home. They can. Dangerous or not, I need to be close by so maybe we can figure out what happened."

The General nodded slowly.

"Know we can't guarantee your safety then." Aw, that's cute, they thought they could protect me from the giant evil robots that can kill them in seconds. Yeah, excuse me if I trust the Autobots more than the government.

"Maybe a third option, a compromise, is best, sir?" Agent Cauley spoke, startling me because I'd momentarily forgotten he was there. He had moved besides Agent Fowler without me noticing. The General indicated for him go continue.

"Perhaps we can set up lodging for you near the base? You'd be able to visit the robots regularly, and you can still get a salary by sending us reports monthly." A salary based on the Cybertronian secrets I could provide them that is, and that just didn't sit right with me.

Then again, no one specified the type of information I had to give, and I could completely BS them if I wanted and still take the money. Having a place outside the base would give me privacy, the Autobots wouldn't have to worry about me anymore (or at least, worry about me as much as they do the kids), and I could still be there everyday.

"How much would this salary entail?" I asked the General.

"1,500$ per month, we'd also provide housing."

"Then you've got yourself a deal General," I smiled.

8

Well that went better than expected. Why was I so nervous again? I can't seem to remember why.

We had negotiated a contract, and the General promised he'd get it written up and sent to me. In the meantime, Fowler and I took the time to dish out everything I wanted (to a degree. It was a flat no when I asked if I could have a game console), and we worked out some of the little things as far as my asylum status. After our secret military base excursion, we stopped by to get me some clothes, some toiletries, and some simple food items (thank God, if I had to eat another PB & J I'd go insane, no offense to Jack). To top it all off, he took me out to a restaurant for some _real_ food.

Happy days, happy days!

On our way back to Jasper, we'd even gotten to talking about our lives a bit.

Okay, it was mainly _me_ talking about _my_ life. One thing that came out of this is that at least school's on hold for now.

"I'm surprised, I thought you were a high school student," Fowler commented.

"Nope, finished with public school and it's not something I ever want to do again!" I was currently in the back seat looking through the simple black flip phone Fowler had given to me. It was fairly basic, with call, text, and extremely slow and small internet access available. The only number in my contacts was Fowler. I had no doubt this phone would be watched closely, so I'm probably not going to use it much.

"What, no 4G?" I smiled. We were in the middle of nowhere, no sane broadband company would provide that in an area so remote.

"Tell me if you get that here," Agent Fowler laughed.

I noticed there was a calendar. Cool. Open that… hmm it's off. Date's right, years wrong. Settings, date/time, hmm… it's using the network. Weird.

"Hey, Agent Fowler, this phone is off, it's date is wrong." Off or just old? I know the military is slow to get new tech dispersed, security and all that takes time, but I'll admit I was disappointed I didn't get a smartphone. Agent Fowler didn't respond and for a second I considered he hadn't heard me. Before I could repeat myself though, the liaison responded.

"What's the date say?" His tone had shifted to serious. This was starting to worry me.

"March 7th, 2011," I said slowly. "The years wrong."

"And what year do _you_ think it is?"

I raised an eyebrow at the question.

"2018 obviously."

…

Uh, what's with that look? Hey, what did I say?

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was on the fence about including the time travel, because I really didn't want to have to stick with a calendar, but in the end I decided to do it. I went back and fixed date and time issues for the previous chapters. You don't have to go back and reread it, the changes were small. The biggest change is that Rachel spent 4 days in the hospital instead of a day and a half. This is to match the 2011 calendar. Why didn't Rachel notice? Once she saw the date was the same (not noticing their was no year mentioned), she put it out of her mind. Years aren't mentioned as much as days or dates, so it was easy to miss.
> 
> Criticism's? Questions? Want to just say Hi? Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Doesn't that make this late? Yes, now hush. Maybe they won't notice.
> 
> Also Note: I don't own Transformers, nor Prime. Ain't nobody got time for that.
> 
> 1/7/21 I just wanted to add to this that it also just makes sense if I'm doing this by the show, that the show has aged, and certain things are dated now. The only explanation for this would be if she went into the past as well. Other wise there would be no story.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

You know, I can take alternate dimension. I can take alternate dimension where fictional giant alien robots are real. I can take that the alternate dimension matches the fiction pretty much exactly. I can take magical blue glowing sticks that can turn into weapons. But time travel? Into the past? Gotta draw the line somewhere.

I slammed Fowlers door when we got back to the base, ready to go into a fit to express these blooming emotions, but alas it would not be. Ratchet took my chance at a tirade.

"Rachel! Come look at this!" Ratchet demanded, not even bothering with a grumbled greeting or rude comment. Optimus Prime was behind the medic looking at the control console screen intensely. I raised my eyebrow at Fowler who shrugged, just as confused as I was.

"Well hello to you too. What is it?" I asked, walking over to the niche. Optimus looked down at me.

"Rachel, I hope your trip was beneficial?" The Prime greeted. I nodded, and smiled up at him. Leave it to the Prime to have some manners. He offered a hand towards me, waiting to pick me up.

I would totally be freaking out about being offered to be carried by the Autobot leader if it wasn't for Ratchets tone earlier. Don't mind me, I'm just getting a lift from Optimus- freaking- Prime. So freaking cool.

_Ahem_

Right. Save the fan freak out for later.

Prime gently brought me up to his shoulder, where I carefully got off and sat down, crutch laid across my lap and looking towards the screen. On said screen was video feed from one of the storage garages, specifically the one that stores the magical alien-stick-of-blue. In the video, the blue rod just sat on top of a box, multiple cameras pointed at it. In the feed's top right corner was white marks with the date and time. It was set at 4:50 pm today.

"The artifact disappeared right- there," Ratchet pointed. And sure enough the stick just wasn't there anymore. Rewatching the moment slowed down led to the same result. There, then not there suddenly.

"It can't have just disappeared," Ratchet mumbled, optics focused on the screen. He suddenly turned to me, and a red net of light scanned me, bringing shivers and a deep sense of my privacy being violated. He looked down to his arm.

"Hey! What-"

"Check your pockets," Ratchet ordered. Confused, and getting a bit annoyed, I complied, even turning the pockets inside out to prove nothing was in them.

"I've been making sure to check them regularly you know."

Ratchet hummed in thought, glancing around the room before settling on Fowler's car. The medic lifted his arm and scanned the car with the same red lights he used on me, the light traveled from the hood to the trunk. When the lasers got to the trunk his arm made a series of small beeping sounds. Fowler, already a step ahead, opened the trunk, revealing the bags of shopping items I had gotten. No blue artifact to be found.

I was about to make a comment along the lines of good riddance, when I caught sight of a shining blue light inside. Fowler noticed it too, and moved a bag, a brighter blue glow uncovered now. Fowler reached in, and pulled out the very glowy object we were looking for.

"Apparently we were carrying illegal contraband. Take it. Quickly," Fowler said.

The Agent carefully held it away from himself and fast walked towards Ratchet. He was probably scared of it choosing to switch owners. I can tell you I was tired of it.

_Or maybe rightly cautious because of the radiations unknown effects on humans._

Yeah, or maybe that.

Ratchet bent down, reaching out a hand for the stick. Fowler quickly, but carefully set it in the medic's hand, backing the hell away from the thing as soon as he could. The Agent looked at his hands in worry, then his car, then preceded to wipe his hands onto his suit. Like that would help.

"So, what? It doesn't have to teleport to me directly? It can be in the vicinity?" I asked, watching as the stick grew in Ratchets hands in that strange building-itself-larger-from-nothing way. How was it doing that? Then again, in the Bey movies, hadn't the Allspark shrunk down from its giant size in the same way? It would make sense it could grow too and make itself bigger despite the lack of any legitimate material to do so.

Ratchet turned back to the screen and brought up a map next to the video footage. On the map a red bleep traveled out from the base onto the road. When the blip was about 5 miles out, the artifact disappeared.

"So… what's this about?" I asked, at a lost. What was that red blip?

"I put a tracker on you," Ratchet offhandedly informed.

_Wait. He put a tracker on me?!_

"You put a _tracker_ on me?! When was this?!" I asked upset. I began rubbing the bridge of my nose. Calm down Rachel. Calm down.

Ratchet rolled his eyes. "When you were recharging of course," he responded as he continued trying to fiddle with the video, trying to slow it down to speeds that no human camera would be able to capture. My annoyance reached a peak. No one puts a trackers on me in my sleep!

"And just what gave you the idea that's-!"

"I ordered the tracker to be put on you Rachel," Optimus interrupted, turning his head slightly to look at me. "I apologize for not informing you of this decision, but we wanted to be sure you were not a threat to this bases security."

Ouch. A threat? Me, a threat? Ha!

This was sobering. Here I thought I was getting along really well with everyone, but then, first time out with no Autobots and they wanted to make sure I wouldn't, what? Run away? Stab them in the back? Reveal closely held secrets? Other thoughts flooded my mind as well. Had they put a bug in too? To listen in on the conversation I had with the General in Area 51? Did they know the deal I made? How long have they been tracking me?

I know I shouldn't feel betrayed. They'd known me for, what? Less than a week now? It was reasonable to not trust the chick with the knowledge about them and with a weird connection to a weird weapon.

The Autobots were the good guys, I could trust them, right?

Right?

This tracker thing makes me uncomfortable.

"I want it off, and I want down," I looked into Optimus' optic in my view and demanded. Ratchet visibly pushed down his annoyance, and resisted rolling his optics again. He faced towards me, servos on his hip.

"The tracker was for your safety. The Decepticons know of Agent Fowler, so a kidnapping is always possible, especially considering Fowler insisted on no Autobots as escorts, though on my spark I don't understand why! If it bothers you that much, I can take it off later," Ratchet relented. I glared.

Thank you. That's all I wanted. Not that I'd say that aloud to the jerk.

Optimus brought his hand up. I walked onto the servo, and waited for the ride down.

"How was your meeting with General Bryce Rachel?" Optimus asked.

I mockingly smiled. "Just dandy. I realized that not only am I in an alternate reality where fiction is real, but I also went back in time by 7 years! Wonderful." Optimus brought me down as I spoke, and I got off his hand once I reached the floor. Both bots looked at each other thoughtfully.

"Into the past, you say?" Ratchet looked back towards the screen, then down to his servos. All four of us considered the strange glowing rod with uncertainty.

9

I set the last of the groceries down next to the TV, and finally face planted into the couch, leaving my crutch on the floor. I had gotten everything out of Fowlers car and took it up the stairs. Then, I'd gone to the bathroom in two trips, one to lug the toiletries there, and another to bring my new cotton maroon PJs and to get ready for bed. It was a long day, yet, despite my tiredness, sleep evaded me as the days events replayed in my mind.

First and foremost was the artifact. All evidence so far pointed towards the artifact being the source of my misery. How it could send people into alternate dimensions and time periods I haven't the slightest clue. Though, the thing was super OP if it could do all of that.

Super OP…

Hey, what if I was in a bad fanfiction or something? That would be great. I could switch on some Mary Sue powers and just wish myself home.

Seriously though, how _did_ I know this was real? As in, how did I know I wasn't just in a coma? Or hallucinating? What if I was actually talking to rock that I _thought_ was giant alien robots?

_Okay, I need sleep._

I wonder what kind of place I'll get. It's probably not going to be anything fancy, this was Jasper after all. What I'm really excited for is a laptop, with actual internet access! It's 2011… still I'll take what I can get! It'll be interesting getting to know the details of this Earth. Positive thoughts!

And that tracker, ugh! I tried to figure out where it was put on me with no luck. Which brings me back to the glowy diviner rod topic, because the thing had followed me! Well, not follow as much as appear near where I am. If this was going to continue, I should at least wear protective gear at all times. Maybe... I'll bring it up to Ratchet later. _Yawn_.

Something cool looking maybe… like a biker outfit… and by biker I mean motorcycle... Dad said he once owned a motorcycle… it'd be… mmm...


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

I awoke to the shrieking of metal being split. Who?! What?! When, Where, Why?!

My head snapped to the source of the ear bleeding sound, which turned out to be from none other than the Hatchet Ratchet himself. He was welding something onto Bumblebee, who was sitting on top of a berth (see, I'm learning!). I rubbed my eyes and yawned. Guess I was up, no point in going back to sleep now.

I reached over to the table and opened my new flip phone. It read that it was 12 o'clock noon. Wow, I'd slept for a long while. What do I have on my to do list today? Oh? A text? I opened my messenger and saw it was from Fowler. It was a detailed list of housing options in or near Jasper. The cheapest rooms were at the top, and the more expensive ones on the bottom. In total, there were 4 choices: A motel that offered yearly room leases (it came with a bed, sink, bathroom, and mini fridge) located right in Jasper, an apartment available in a bigger town near Jasper, another apartment located near Jasper, and finally, a guest room a homeowner was renting out.

I want a place _in_ Jasper, so the two apartments in other towns are a no go. The last one seems promising. In the description Fowler informed me the owner of the home was an Area 51 worker who was currently away for some long term assignment, leaving only his elderly mother living in the home. Seemed promising, and if the old lady turned out to be crabby, I could choose the motel option later on. Decided, I texted Fowler I was interested in the last option at the house and flipped the phone closed.

I started stretching my right foot, moving it in circles and massaging the sole carefully. It'd gotten better very quickly. Guess the doc was wrong about how long it'd take. I twisted around and felt the sweet cracking of my bones. I swooped down to grab my crutch and got up, grabbing a pair of jeans and a white short sleeved t-shirt. I began walking down the stairs.

"Afternoon! Whatcha' doin'?" I yelled over the sounds of Ratchet's tools. He waved his unoccupied hand, whether in a shooing motion or lazy greeting, I couldn't tell. Bee looked animatedly at me, buzzed and beeped, miming a car with his left servos along with a vrooming sound, when a sudden "Errrrk" sounded and jostling of his hand left the "car" at a standstill. Then he pointed to the tire behind his right shoulder, which was a bit different from the other three he had on him. It wasn't very noticeable though.

"What caused it?" I asked.

"Just a blown tire," Ratchet sighed. "Some idiot thought it would be funny to spike the road. Nothing that can't be fixed, thankfully. Only reason it blew out in the first place was due to me having to use a human tire temporarily until I finish fixing Bumblebee's original one," he explained.

"Why can't you just replace it?" I asked. Ratchet scoffed.

"Please. Do you see anywhere I could get quality Cybertronian parts on this rock? We have to make do with the primitive parts here, and save the quality parts if we can," Ratchet bitterly responded. I help up my hands in a placating gesture. I was just asking, yesh.

"If you have nothing better to do, there are quite a number of items that still need to be fixed." Ratchet walked over to a table and came back with a bucket, a mop, and a box of trash bags.

"Check all of the small rooms for any damage the Scraplets may have caused, record it, and clean it up," he handed the items to me. I looked woefully down at the cleaning supplies. Then I smiled.

"You know, I suddenly seem to have my schedule filled up," I looked up, only to find Ratchet glaring at me so intensely a panicked self preservation quickly filled me. "Looks great! Can't wait to clean up! It'll be spick and span!" I quickly adjusted the items into my arms and booked it down the hall towards the bathroom.

10

There are so. Many. Freaking. Rooms in this god damn base! I wasn't even half of the way through when Miko, Jack and Raf came back from school, that's four hours! I decided I needed a well deserved break. And a shower. And food.

While I was taking my shower, the three kids had chores apparently too. By the time I'd finished and was enjoying a turkey sandwich with some chips for a late lunch, Jack and Raf were done.

"What'd you guys get strung up doing?" I asked as Jack fell onto the couch and Raf sat on a chair.

"Finished welding, Arcee helped me so it went faster, it's what we started yesterday," Jack explained. I offered chips to the two boys and they both partook in the glorious baked potato crisps.

"I finished helping Ratchet with some of the wiring on the groundbridge! It was a lot of fun!" Raf excitedly then started going into the technicals of what he learned, all of which went right over my head. I occasionally inserted commentary to pretend I understood. Mostly though, I just nodded and ate my chips.

I looked around the room, seeing Prime speaking to Arcee and Bee buzzing at Ratchet who was focusing on the monitor in front of him.

"Hey, where's Bulky?" I asked in a brief lapse in Raf's explanation.

"With Miko, she dragged him into helping her," Jack answered. I nodded. That sounded like Miko.

I heard the telltale heavy footfalls of said large green giant.

"All right! Chores are done. _Now_ can we do some dune-bashing?" Miko said on Bulkhead's shoulder as they entered the hangar. Speak her name and she shall appear. I smiled at Jack who looked like he was thinking the same thing.

"I don't know Miko, last time I spent a week picking sand out of my articulators," Bulkhead said, and Miko looked sad for a moment. "Uh, but, there's a monster truck rally in town." Monster trucks, hm, that's something I'd be interested in seeing.

"Optimus," Ratchet called getting the attention of everyone in the room. The Bots gathered in front of the screen.

"I'm receiving a signal on a restricted band." he looked over his shoulder to the Autobot leader. Raf and Jack looked at each other, seemingly deciding to go see what was up. I took my crutch and followed behind them. "It appears to be coming from a starship inside this solar system."

Me, Jack and Raf looked up at the screen. On the monitors was a map of the Earth along with other readings of the planet. Ratchet typed onto the keyboard and a trajectory appeared around around the Earth with a blue blip following it.

"It's an Autobot identification beacon," the medic said in surprise. Jack turned around to face Ratchet.

"So there are other Bots out there?" Jack asked.

"The masses scattered to the galaxies when Cybertron finally went dark," Arcee explained. She looked down thoughtfully. "But, Cons have been known to bait traps with false beacons," she warned looking up at Ratchet, then to Optimus. Not a beat later the Autobot leader looked towards the screen.

"Unknown vessel, this is Autobot outpost Omega One. Identify yourself," the Prime demanded, eyes focused, yet still cautious.

This. This was the Optimus Prime I hadn't yet been able to see. Strong, confident, and serious about the protection of his allies and friends. A leader through and through, taking charge of the situation. Was it time for this already though? I was on the edge of my seat, though I was standing… forget that metaphor, the excitement was building in me is what I meant.

A old rough voice crackled through. "I've had warmer welcomes from Decepticon combat brigades." OH MY GOD IT REALLY WAS WHEELJACK!

"Wheeljack?!" Bulkhead gasped, leaning forward, optics wide. Miko yelped at the sudden movement. She held on tight, and a good thing too, as Bulkhead quickly walked towards the screen, Bee and Arcee getting out of his way.

"You old Con crusher! What are _you_ doing all the way out here?" Bulkhead jovially called.

"Bulkhead? That you?" Wheeljack asked. "What's with all the security?" He questioned. Bulkhead grew serious.

"The rock we're on is crawling with Cons. How soon can you get here and even the odds?"

"Sometime tomorrow if I put metal to the pedal."

Miko looked up in awe. "Another Bot's coming here. How cool is that!" She looked at Bulkhead with a smile and pounded her fist onto her leg.

"This is so cool!" Raf added.

"Wheeljack - I know of him by reputation only." Optimus turned towards Bulkhead, "Can you verify his voiceprint?" Bulkhead looked at Optimus in the optics and nodded.

"He is 1,000% the real deal Optimus."

"We will send landing coordinates, Wheeljack," Optimus turned towards the monitor. "Safe journey," he said warmly.

"See you soon buddy," Bulkhead beamed. "I'll make sure you get a proper welcome." The screen beeped and the transmission ended.

Wheeljack was coming! He sounded like a cocky old bot. If I had to compare, I'd say his voice and tone reminded me of a deeper, rougher, and older version of Han Solo.

"Well you look excited," Jack snapped me out of my reverie. I grinned.

"Man, you guys will _love_ Wheeljack, he's a Wrecker, which i- _should_ be the same unit Bulkhead was in. Dude, he's so cool. Inventor and engineer. In the, uh, show, he wielded a pair of swords and is a master weapons maker. Guy can make explosives like no tomorrow!" I was jumping on the balls of my feet I was so excited.

This was going to be great! Amazing! Wheeljack was coming to the base! Maybe he could teach me some moves? I could become the greatest swords master on the planet! The stories he could tell, ah.

...

Wait a second...

Shit, it wasn't going to be Wheeljack who came to the base was it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Though really, because I missed posting Chapter 14 Monday, it's just me being early for once. Going to be busy this whole weekend so I needed to get this done. I ended up starting Chapter 14 Monday, and surprise surprise, didn't finish until Wednesday, at which point I decided to just to post it with this weeks chapter. If I have time, I might be able to finish Chapter 16 by Monday.
> 
> I hope you like it and where this stories going? What's up with this rod thing? What's Rachel's new living situation going to be like? And the events of Season 1, episode 8 Con Job! Oh no!
> 
> Criticism's? Questions? Want to just say Hi? Any and All Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Also Note: I don't own Transformers, nor Prime. If you haven't watched the series, and assume I made this masterpiece of Cybertronian storytelling, I can only say you need to see a metal health professional, because you're crazy.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

This was bad. This was I'm- questioning-the-moral-implications-of-my-decision-not-to-tell -them-that-I-know-their-futures bad. Hey, maybe Makeshift won't get to the base. Maybe the Autobots will get to Wheeljack before they can switch him with his imposter this time! I mean, sure in the show Makeshift successfully infiltrates the base, and sure, no one really notices until it was almost too late, and sure, Wheeljack was captured and has a freaking sword battle in the hangar, but everything else will be just _super_.

No need to panic Rachel, you have until tomorrow to figure out what to do.

_Just like you had all of today to 'figure out what to do'?_

I groaned into the couch cushions. You know what? Hush brain, I'm really trying my best not to freak out right now, and you're not helping. I know I'm right though (shocker that). I had from the time we got the news of Wheeljack's arrival to now to figure _something_ out, but instead all I could do was freak out about how I _didn't_ know what to do. I couldn't out and tell them that the Wheeljack they're going to bring is going to be the Decepticon Makeshift without drawing suspicion on _how_ I'd know that. They'd never believe I just happened to know that from my fiction knowledge, like it was a common plot point or something within the franchise.

Or would they?

My phone rang from the table and I tried to ignore it. I was actually onto something here, I could feel it.

"Your phone is ringing." Ratchet oh so helpfully pointed out. I lifted my head from where I was face-planted into the couch to glare at the Medic who was once again working on some project or other. The phone stopped it's ringing.

I sighed and reached over to the table, grabbing the phone and flipping it open. The notifications informed me I have one missed call from Fowler. I considered the phone in my hand for a moment before deciding to text Fowler that I'd call him back when I got outside for better reception. I got up, taking my crutch and a jacket to go outside. As I walked towards the elevator, Ratchet halted me.

"Up-pup-pup! Where do you think you're going at this hour young lady?" The medic demanded with his hands on his hip and a stern gaze in his optics.

"Fowler called. Wanted to speak privately and I wanted some fresh air."

"Not this late. The communication reception inside the base is fine. I have it on good authority that humans need their nightly hours of sleep or risk reduced processor functioning. Not to mention the large amount of work that needs to be done for tomorrow. I nee-"

"Is there an issue Ratchet?" A deep voice interrupted. I jumped a little and we both turned to find the presence of Optimus Prime. He must have just come back from patrol.

"She's insisting on going out," Ratchet informed with a stern stare at me. What was I, a wayward teen sneaking out on her parents at night? Yesh, who made Ratchet my mom. Okay, that's a horrible image, Ratchet in my mom's place, I think I'm scarred for life. Pushing that down, Optimus looked at me with a raised eyebrow plate and I rolled my eyes.

"Just wanted some fresh air and to call Fowler." My head swiveled towards Ratchet and I threw my left hand up in exasperation. "It's really not a big deal!"

"Perhaps it would ease Ratchet's mind if I were to accompany you Rachel?" Optimus asked, and I nodded immediately. I just wanted out, God. Ratchet thought for a moment before nodding as well.

"That is acceptable, just don't come back too late, and don't go out more than 5 miles. I would hate to have to recalibrate the sensors watching the artifact. There is already a lot to prepare for tomorrow, and everyone needs to be at 100%," Ratchet grumbled, turning back to whatever it was he was doing before.

I managed to repress my shutter at his words. If he only knew how prepared they'd have to be. Starscream came very close to successfully leading an invasion on the base. Extremely close if I wasn't mistaken.

"Would it be fine if we drove to another location? I have questions I'd like to ask you and this seems the most opportune time." Optimus asked. His optics on me felt heavy. They always felt heavy, maybe that's partially why I haven't seen him much. Maybe I've been kind of avoiding the Prime now I think about it. The deal I made with General Bryce probably didn't help either, considering I'd be giving away information on the Cybertronians, even if I mostly stuck to half-truths. It made me glad I'd talked to him so little, then again he was kind of a busy guy what with leading a Cybertronian faction in a war, so it wasn't completely me.

"Not at all," I shook my head. I watched with fascination as the large Bot broke apart, grey metal, red, and blue mixing and shifting with gears to compact into the iconic semi-truck.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeee! So freaking cool!

_Ahem._

Right. _I_ need to be cool. And I need to stop staring. Okay, legs move down the stairs and towards Optimus freaking-Prime and, oh he opened the passenger door for me. I'm… I'm going where no Transformers fan has gone before. One small step for nerds, one giant leap for nerd-kind.

"Are you alright Rachel?" The leader of the Autobots, the Prime, keeper of the Matrix of Leadership asked me. Me. Little ol' Rachel Evensbrough from nowhere.

I took a shaky breath and nodded. I think I even managed a mumbled "Yeah," in there as I entered and looked around the interior. The two seats were black leather, with no one at the driver's seat. On the black wheel was an blue autobot insignia, in fact, most of the meters had that blue light either surrounding it or inside of it. Behind me was enough space to put another two or three chairs if someone wanted, but it was nice to have the interior be spacy. For a truck, it was surprisingly luxurious, it even had a cup holder that suck out for an easy hand reach. I sat down numbly as the door closed next to me, Optimus started his engine, the deep rumble catching me by surprise.

"Do not forget to put on your seatbelt," a deep rumble sounded from the radio, though it was certainly surround sound.

"Hmm, yeah," I replied quietly as I reached over to fasten the belt. Everything was so nice and clean. I even caught the light scent of that new car smell.

Optimus was pulling out of the base and into the tunnel exit, the tunnel lights passed us by at an increasing speed until we reached the end, where the rocks opened to reveal the night sky over a seemingly endless dessert. Optimus turned right, onto the road. The moon was a small sliver in the sky, the wind picked up sand to follow us, only to let go before too long.

"Are you excited?" I asked looking towards the dashboard, not sure where else to look.

"For Wheeljack's arrival?" Optimus asked and I nodded. "I'm am overjoyed to learn of any Autobot that has survived. The war has taken many lives, that Bulkhead may reunite with another Wrecker is something to be celebrated." I need to tell him, somehow, someway…

"You think the base can handle two Wreckers?" I asked with a smirk just as a lightbulb turned on in my brain. The truck shook with Optimus' chuckle, and I couldn't help but be in awe at the reaction. I just got Optimus Prime to laugh, well it wasn't full blown, but it was a chuckle.

"I believe we will be fine." If he was in robot mode Optimus would be smiling, call it a gut feeling.

There was a nice silence that fell over us after that. Optimus carefully turned off of the road and shut off his headlights to hide ourselves, my eyes took a moment to adjust.

"I wish to apologize that we have not been able to focus on efforts to return you to your world," Optimus began. I didn't expect the apology at all.

I shook my head.

"I'm sure Ratchet is doing his best. Ground-bridge technology is difficult enough without having to figure out how to cross alternate realities. I understand this may take awhile." I was under no delusions about that. The only hope I have of getting home right now is figuring out that glow stick, and that was extremely slow going. These _events_ back things up to the point where research isn't anywhere near the top of the to-do list.

"Nonetheless, getting you back is a priority we have not forgotten I assure you."

"Thank you," I sincerely said. If anyone could figure out how to send me back, it was this team here.

"I could not help but notice you have seemed reserved since the news of Wheeljack's arrival…" I couldn't help but tense up. Can't fool a Prime huh? That's fine, this was the perfect segue into -

"Yeah, I wanted to bring it up to you. It might be nothing," I opened my hands in a placating gesture, "but, in my world there's certain common… threads in the, um _series_." I paused to make sure he didn't want to add anything before I continued. "These threads, are things most if not all of the series that came from the franchise have in some form or fashion. Some of them are broad, some of them specific. The fight of the Autobots vs the Decepticons is one of them. That battle eventually leading to Cybertrons destruction is another thread." I paused again, hoping he was getting it, hoping he was listening carefully. "Other threads are small, like a small group of humans aiding you usually, that you and Megatron fight here on Earth," that they find something here on Earth. Whether that be a ridiculously large amount of important relics or the Allspark, there was always _something_ to get the Autobots and the Decepticons attention. Another thread is usually Unicron, but i'd rather avoid thinking about that one. But this, this next part? I _had_ to sell it. I bit my lip and looked towards the dashboard.

"One of these small threads is Makeshift," I practically whispered.

Optimus slowed down and I realized we had reached the edge of a small canyon. The sound of the engine dying and the lack of movement or noise made the silence that followed heavy.

"You are insinuating that Wheeljack may well be Makeshift in disguise?" Optimus asked, his tone grave.

"No, I trust Bulkhead. He knows Wheeljack and he said he was '1000% the real deal," I brought my right hand through my hair, and a short laugh came out of me. "You can see why I said it might be nothing," I took a deep breath and looked outside. "I guess i'm just afraid something will happen when he lands," I shook my head. "I should probably call Fowler back," I indicated towards outside. It took a moment, but Optimus opened the door and I unbuckled, carefully getting out. The desert night chilled me and I zipped my jacket closed, walking a few feet away from Optimus who was still in his truck mode. Realistically I knew the Bot could easily listen in, but I hoped that Optimus had the courtesy not to. I dialed Fowler and waited.

"What took you so long?!" Fowler yelled. I brought the phone away from my ear and winced. Yesh.

"Sorry, sorry. Just taking the opportunity to have a conversation with Optimus while I'm at it, ya know?"

"Well, I hope you told him your moving plans, cause I got you that place to stay." Well, shit, with everything that was going on I did forget. "So whether you want to live with that ol' lady or not, deals done kid." Wait, hey!

"But you'll change me to the motel if I can't stand her, right?"

"..."

"Right!?"

"You choose it, not me kid. Decisions a done deal."

"You're a real jerk, you know that?"

"Guess I'll be returning this state of the art laptop then if I'm so terrible." That got my interest.

"Really? When can I get it?" I asked, unable to mask the excitement I felt.

"I'll be sending all sorts of goodies when we get you moved," Fowler teased. This was like Christmas!

"When's moving date?" I asked, now pumped for the move. It was a nice distraction from my current issues.

"I can get mostly everything in by Friday, though I'd recommend stopping by to meet your landlady before then. Said good things about you, so I expect you to deliver."

"Thanks?" Now I was suspicious.

"What was that?" He asked. He had heard me, what did he-? My cheeks heated up in embarrassment.

"I said thank you," I grumbled.

"You're welcome. Now is that so hard? To show some appreciation?" Folwer gloated. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Very. Is that all?"

"For now. Anything you want to share about the new Bot that's gonna rain down tomorrow?" If he wanted details, I couldn't be thorough with Optimus just a few feet away.

"Good bot, genius engineer. Bit of a lone wolf type," I responded. "Bulkhead would probably be happy to share war stories if you're interested, but if that'sall _Optimus_ and I will be getting back." Fowler thankfully seemed to get my hint that that's all I could say at the moment.

"Alright. I'll be visiting the base Thursday to brief the new Bot in person. Until then." Fowler closed.

"Until then," I nodded. The call ended, and a light gust of wind flew by from my left. I turned to see Optimus in his robot mode, towering the landscape. I then looked ahead at the canyon before us.

"Do you miss it?" I asked, the stars like a million lanterns guiding the galaxy. There was a pause as the Autobot leader came closer.

"Not a day passes that I do not," the Prime… no, the Cybertronian nodded, optics filled with a distant longing. My own heart ached in sympathy. At least I knew my home was okay, not ravaged into a husk by war. Home was distant, yes, but safe. I carefully sat down cross legged, leaning on my hands behind me. A moment later, Optimus sat down as well, much more regal than me, but still open somehow.

"Would you mind? If I asked you to tell me about your home? You were a librarian in the Iacon Hall of Records, right?"

The Cybertronian nodded, optics clouded in remembrance.

"Indeed. A long time ago, before the war that ravaged our planet and my people, before I was made a Prime. I was responsible for the upkeep of the data in the Iacon Hall of Records. A collection of all of Cybertron's history, from the creation of the Primes by Primus to just before the war began," a deep pain was in his optics, "...I learned much from my mentor Alpha Trion. The necessary characteristics to becoming a leader, the knowledge gained from loss, and yet I did not fully comprehend his lessons until I had such experiences myself... so many were lost." Optimus closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, he was a Prime again.

"And was it beautiful? Cybertron?"

"Beyond imagination."

I took a moment to let that settle in. I couldn't help but take into account the things he wasn't saying that I saw in his optics. The initial hope for a better Cybertron, the battle against a system of casts that created inequality and injustice. The descent, seeing a good friend become corrupted. To see that friend's destruction, the deaths of so many. The bombings, the tactics that had to be used, the cities decimated. I couldn't imagine.

"It is best we get back to base. Ratchet will begin to worry." Optimus' said as he got back up. His words snapped me back to reality.

_Reality…_

"You mean worry about _you_ Optimus," I smiled and shook my head. Carefully, I got back up using my crutch and dusted the sand off of my pants.

"Ratchet may be harsh, but he does care for the wellbeing of you and the others," Optimus chastised. I knew that… logically at least.

I stretched and my back cracked, releasing a tension in the center of my spine. I rolled my head and shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah. I know he's actually a sweetspark." I said disbelievingly. He was like an angry old neighbor who always wanted you off their lawn. I yawned, the demand for sleep starting to get to me.

"Oh! That reminds me, Fowler got me a place to stay. It's in Jasper, in a neighborhood near the high school. He said I should be able to move in by Friday," I recalled. Optimus' gaze kept on me and I couldn't make out whether he already knew the information or not.

The Prime simply nodded and transformed into his vehicle mode. His _Earth_ vehicle mode, and I couldn't help but wonder for the first time if he missed the Cybertronian design.

"May we discuss this on the way back?" I nodded and got in.

And, EEEEE! I still can't get over speaking to him and riding in him- no wait, that came out wrong. Damn it mind! This is not the time!

11

"You sure everything's fine Ratchet?" Arcee asked the grumbling medic as he worked with something that almost looked like a wrench on the groundbridge control. Bee looked over Arcee and buzzed worriedly as well.

"Yes, everything is fine," Ratchet dismissed with an annoyed wave of his servos, "just doing some minor adjustments, then everything will be perfect. Spent all night ensuring everything was in working order." I could put a word in about a need for him to recharge _,_ but I knew he'd respond with something about how Cybertronians don't need as much sleep as humans.

We all were on the edge of our seats waiting for Wheeljack's arrival. Anticipation, and a healthy bit of caution, filled the hangar as we watched Wheeljack's ship pass into Earth's atmosphere. Bulkhead was pacing back and forth in front of the screen, optics glued to watching his descent.

"Wheeljack's ship is approaching the landing zone." Arcee said with a grin.

Miko looked ready to leave Earth's gravity with just how excited she was. I, on the other hand, watched with dred as the blue blip came closer and closer to the designated rendezvous.

"You think he's here to visit?" Raf asked to Jack.

"Maybe he'll stay!" Miko said hopefully, then she looked concerned. "Hmmm, have to have his own human though…" I rolled my eyes. "Rachel! He can be your guardian! Then we can both have Wreckers." She nodded to herself like it was decided and final.

Beeping from the Groundbridge controls brought our attention to Ratchet as he started the portal up. Miko leaned against the rails, as all four of us watched wide eyed as the green, purple, and blues swirled towards a bright white light at the end..

"Groundbridge cycling up," Ratchet grinned as the machine whirred to life, looking at Arcee and Bee with pride for ever doubting him. Then, the machine proceeded to fly sparks in his face for his arrogance and died on him, the groundbridge darkening off. Ratchet glared at the machine and hit it.

"Blasted Scraplets! Equipment hasn't been the same since the infestation."

I hummed, panic flooding me internally. Yep, the look-a-like Decepticon is coming to the base. No way they're gonna catch the real Wheeljack beforehand unless I choose to scream it to them now, not with these delays.

"So, Wheeljack's going to land halfway around the world, and then you'll bridge him here?" Jack asked, pointing to the floor to indicate the "here" he was referring to was the base. Optimus faced Jack.

"We can't risk revealing the location of our base. Just in case the Decepticons are tracking Wheeljack's ship." Halfway through Optimus speaking, Miko ran over to Bulkhead. Everyone except me looked at her in surprise. She stayed for half of what Optimus had said at least. Good for her! As she ran over speak to Bulkhead, my head turned towards the screen, then towards Optimus. He met my eyes and I found nothing but reassurance. Maybe everything would turn out fine, I'd warned Optimus at least so he'd be on the lookout for any suspicious behavior. Optimus went to watch the screen, and I relaxed.

_Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!_

An alarm sounded from the monitor tracking Wheeljack's location, and six red blips appeared on the screen right behind Wheeljack's ship.

_Apparently spoke too soon._

"Bogies closing fast on Wheeljack's position," Arcee said, eyes narrowed.

"Con scum!" Bulkhead yelled. Ratchet worked twice as fast on the controls. On the screen, the blue blip sped down then stopped moving, the red blips with it. Bulkhead, Bee, and Arcee went to stand ready at the mouth of the groundbridge.

"Open the bridge Ratchet were missing all the action!" Bulkhead called.

Ratchet finished his fix and quickly pulled down the lever for the bridge. I tensed looking towards the portals, hoping for not another system failure. Thankfully the swirling greens, purples and blues whirred to life.

_Thing still gives me the creeps._

"I'll prepare the sick bay," Ratchet informed with a nod towards the leaving soldiers. Bulkhead laughed.

"Who for? The cons? This is Wheeljack we're talking about." Bulkhead faced forward and all three ran into the bridge. Wheeljack, ha, yeah right.

_Oh well, there went your chance._

The guilt and fear in me was starting to crescendo. Maybe it'd be best if I made my escape to the bathroom for the rest of the day. Avoid all the drama.

"Hey, you okay? You look pale all of a sudden," Jack asked, and my heart went a mile a minute. Damn it Rachel! Don't bring attention to yourself right now! Go hide in a crate or something, there's going to be a Decepticon inside the base and you're going to be the only one that knows. If even Jack can see you're nervous you'll never fool a Con!

I attempted to shrug nonchalantly.

"Feel fine!" I insisted as cheerfully as I could manage.

"I get it," Miko said draping an arm over my shoulder, and my eyes widened.

"You're worried they'll lose against those Cons'! Don't worry Rachel, Bulkhead will smash them to pieces!" I almost let out a sigh of relief.

"Miko's right Rachel! Look," Raf pointed towards the tracker, and sure enough, all six red blips were gone with the blue blips present.

"What… a huge relief! Ha!" I went with it. Better they think thatwas the reason.

"Ratchet," Bulkhead's jubilant voice came from the comms. "Send us a groundbridge back."

"Right away," Ratchet looked over the groundbridge controls hovering over the activation switch. He decided to pull down the lever, and the bridge opened. I watched as four Bots came running into the base. Ratchet quickly pulled his servos back as the controls sparked again and the groundbridge shut off with a crackle. He shook his servos and groaned. My gaze immediately went to search for the new Bot and I quickly spotted him.

_What are the chances that's the real Wheeljack?_

Bulkhead led "Wheeljack" forward. As the new Bot was inspecting the base, I got a good look at him.

I've got to say, the Con mimicked exactly how I expected the Bot to look. A white armored Mech with two streaking dorsal fins on the side of his face, and grey brow plates that streaked behind him. He had two wings on his back and two red appendages sticking out behind him. He was blocky and fully armored, with wheels on his legs and shoulders. On his chest plating was red paint sort of in the shape of a pointed shield, with green and grey center. That was his color theme: white with red, gray and green accents. His face, despite being of an alien design, was old, with creases around his optics.

The optics themselves though, didn't show the age of his body. They were a sharp and cold blue.

"Jackie, come here. Meet my other best buddy, Miko," Bulkhead introduced.

Miko had started down the stairs without me noticing, and paused at her mention.

"She can wreck with the best of us!"

She waved with one hand behind her back. "Hiya."

"Wheeljack" took a step towards Miko and leaned forward. I flinched and felt the panic enclose me. Don't pay attention to the human, no please! I wanted to scream at Miko to get away, but my voice caught in my throat.

"You keeping Bulkhead out of trouble?" He asked, and a shiver went down my spine.

"I try, but trouble finds us anyway," she slightly shook her head and smirked.

"We're gonna get along just fine," the fake looked at Bulkhead and smiled. I couldn't help but find it sinister. Loud thudding echoed in the quite hangar, and the leader of the Autobots approached the imposter.

Shoot him. Someone shoot him please, he's a fake Optimus!

"Optimus Prime, it's a privilege," I wanted to barf. That's not what Wheeljack would have said at all. The Bot gives respect when he's seen that it's been earned. The Prime looked down at "Wheeljack" with a smile.

"Likewise soldier." He grew serious. "What have you to report from your long journey?" Everyone listened closely. Everyone except for me, who leaned away, and decided to listen nearer to Ratchet.

"Been bouncing from rock to rock, searching for signs of friend or foe," he looked back towards Bulkhead. "Now, I find both," he smiled.

"We are few, but strong." Optimus admitted honestly, optics searching the Decepticons carefully. "We have suffered losses… but we have grown," he looked towards Jack, and Raf, then back to the Mech. "And we would relish welcoming a new member into our fold."

"I would be honored." I couldn't see the fake's face from where I was, but I just knew I'd hate it.

"Then let's get this party started!" Bulkhead yelled, and hit his friend's back. "Wheeljack" turned around and they both did a body slam into each other, with a loud "Hurrah!"

"Oh joy," Ratchet mumbled.

"Wooohooo!" Miko called out as she slid down the stair railing and ran to set up her guitar into the large speaker. Jack laughed, and Raf smiled as they began their way down the stairs.

I hesitantly walked over to the railing directly above the group. I didn't want to get too close, but I also wanted to be able to watch over Miko, Raf, and Jack. Cons, after all, had no respect for human life.

"Let me introduce you to everybody. This is Bumblebee the quickest Scout there ever was one," Bee chirped and waved his servo's cheerily.

"And this here is Arcee, she can take any Bot down, so don't let your guard down around her," Bulkhead warned with a light tone.

"Wouldn't dream of it," the Con nodded respectfully and smirked. Arcee smiled back.

 _Blegh._ I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit. Gross.

"And of course there's our resident Doctor, Ratchet. Saved my chassis so many times, i've lost count," the giant rumbled in laughter. Ratchet shook his head in dismay. Probably from remembering said "times".

At least he wasn't introducing the rest of-

"And then there's our human friend's. Miko, of course," Miko made a peace sign. "Jack," Jack smiled and waved. "Rafael," the young boy looked up, adjusted his glasses and smiled shyly. "and Rachel," my heart was pounding a mile a minute as the Cons gaze landed on me.

_Do something!_

I did a mock salute, and the fake nodded back.

"I made all sorts of plans Jackie, the places I have to show you, the awesome things to do, but first let's party!" Bulkhead walked over to behind the stairs and brought out a large metal ball made from a mish-mash of metal tubes and sheets.

"Come on Jackie. Show me what you got," Bulkhead taunted, as Miko took her guitar and began playing it. There was a grunt as the large metal lob was thrown above us.

"Uh oh," Bulkhead caught the lob, but the force of it pushed him backwards. A big feat considering how much the Wrecker weighed. He laughed. "Nice lob," Bulkhead said as he threw it back. And so they continued, back and forth. Bee sat down crossed legged as he watched Raf and Miko. Arcee was leaning against the wall next to the platform Jack was sitting on. How'd he even get there?

More importantly, where did the Prime go?!

"Sooo, what's that about?" Jack asked as he watched the two Wreckers throw the lob back and forth.

"It's called lobbing, the favorite past time on Cybertron, especially amongst the warrior class," Arcee explained.

"W-where's Optimus?" I asked.

"Went for a drive," Arcee responded, looking up at me. Jack looked at her confused, and Arcee looked over to him. "Primes don't party," she explained.

Shit.

"Come on Raf! Show us some moves!" Miko turned around and shook her hips.

Raf adjusted his glasses and relented. "Oh, all right." The boy genius began dancing. Jack laughed.

"Of course- the robot."

I didn't have time for this. I needed to make my escape. But my escapw would mean leaving the others with the dangerous Con. Well, I did know they turn out fine. Who knows, maybe my interfering will get someone killed this time around, ha.

Ha ha. Maybe me just being here will get them killed. Wouldn't that be hilarious?

I walked back to Ratchet to watch him work.

"Coming at ya!" Bulkhead called as he lobbed the… well, lob. "Wheeljack" jumped to catch it, but missed by the servostips and the ball of metal went sailing into the wall. It fell right back down, nicking the groundbridge controls. I tripped backwards, but managed to catch myself before falling.

It sparked, and Ratchet and I covered ourselves away from the sparking, until the machine calmed down.

"You know, I am attempting to perform sensitive calibrations here!" Ratchet yelled towards Bulkhead, gesturing to the control panel. "Wheeljack" went around the medic to grab the ball.

"Sorry, doc. Guess we're a little charged up." Ratchet grumbled under his breath in response as he went back to fixing the controls. The fake paused at to look towards the bridge, I pretended not to be paying attention, even taking out my phone.

"You built this bridge from scratch, huh?"

"I did," Ratchet responded.

"That's quite a feat of engineering." I had to look-up for that one.

"Yes, it is," Ratchet smiled. Wow, an actual compliment for Ratchet, how many millenniums has it been since he's heard one?

"Something wrong with it?" A chill passed through me.

"I didn't care for the way it sounded this last jump. I put it in shut down."

"What if you need to use it?"

"Oohhh, I can't disrupt the defrag process without causing irreparable damage."

"So, uh, how long will the defrag take?"

"A few hours, If we're lucky" Ratchet turned around towards the Con. He thought for a moment and added "Maybe longer."

"Huh."

I frowned. If I could sabotage the controls, the fake could be caught. But then what? There are three human liabilities, actually make that four, i'm a liability as well. Not to mention, that if this wasn't done _exactly_ how it did in the show, the real Wheeljack may not make it. What could I do? Where's Optimus when you need him?

I felt the cold gaze of someone and looked up to meet Makeshifts curious optics. I froze, his optics focusing on me, analyzing.

"You want to do something else?" Bulkhead asked from across the room. Makeshift broke his gaze away from me to focus back onto Bulkhead.

"Oh oh! Story time!" Miko called out excitedly. I took the moment to make my escape.

"I'm going to the restroom," I said mainly to Ratchet, just in case someone asked where I was.

"And you needed to tell me that because…?" The Medic asked, rolling his optics.

"Thought I couldn't go anywhere without someone knowing where I am?" My eyes were locked on the retreating form of Makeshift. Lob in his servos, he handed it to Bulkhead, who in turn pulled him into a noogie.

Ratchet scoffed. "Please, since when have _you_ asked for permission from _me_ ," the Medic looked up at me incredulously.

"You never know who you can trust," I whispered as I made my way down towards stairs. I could feel Ratchet's confused gaze on my back, before he apparently dismissed what I had said.

Dismissal to what I say seems to be a hallmark to my stay here. You'd think people would listen to the crazy future human who knows her stuff, but apparently _not_. This whole thing could have been avoided if they just listened to my hints!

_This whole thing could have been avoided if you were completely honest._

Nope. Not going there.

"Rachel! You have to hear this," Miko insisted as I reached the bottom of the stairs. Okay, stay calm, just tell her you're going to the restroom.

"I was actually going to- AAAH!" Miko grabbed my arm and dragged me over to where they had set up two boxes for us to sit on, Raf and Jack were already settled down and waiting for the story to start.

"Miko, really, you can catch me up later. My foot was bothering me, and I wanted to check on it," I lied. Please buy it Miko, _please_.

"What happened?" The Decepticon inquired. Inquired to me, might I add, the very human Rachel who can be easily squashed by said Con. My heart pumped faster than it probably had in my entire life. I felt paralyzed.

Bulkhead laughed.

"Rachel here is newer than even you are to this planet Jackie. Last week, she appeared out of nowhere, knowing all sorts of stuff about us, claiming she's from an alternate Universe or something, she got injured running away from us," Bulkhead laughed, then jostled the fake who looked at him wide eyed, then looked down at me, optics suddenly intense in interest.

"That so?"

I gulped, then nodded as nonchalantly as I could manage, which is sort of hard when you're shaking.

"Something like that," I avoided eye contact with "Wheeljack". I looked towards Bulkhead, and, desperate to get out of this situation, I blurted out the the dumbest request I could make in this siduation.

"Hey, how about you tell us about the Battle of Darkmount Pass Bulkhead?" I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my nervous face hole. This was the worst time to get Bulkheads attention that the Con wasn't Jackie, as Makeshift didn't have a means of escape yet with the ground bridge still down and what with there being four human hostages easily within reach. Bulkhead for his part looked at me confused, and I blanched as I realized what I'd possibly just done.

"The Battle of Darkmount Pass?" He then grinned, turning to the Con. "See what I mean? Never told her a word about it, i'm sure, but here she is asking about a battle she shouldn't even know about!" He shook his head. "Uh, unless someone else mentioned it?" Arcee and Bee shook their heads in the negative along with the three other humans. I covered my face at that, in embarrassment they would think, but no. It was in horror.

Please _shut up_ Bulkhead.

"It is strange that you knew Ratchet and Bulkhead's names without having ever met them, and you follow what we say no problem. When Miko fist came, all she could seem to do was ask questions," Arcee oh so, helpfully pointed out.

"Interesting. Did you know about me?" the fake asked intrigued.

Shit. Shit shit shit! DAMN IT. No, please, why?

Okay, plan: Keep it vague, and be confident. Pretend he isn't a Decepticon in disguise, so that you can maybe _not die today._ I garnered as much courage as I could gather, looked at the Con directly in the optics and shrugged.

"Not much I'm afraid. Just that you're a top notch engineer, a helluva Wrecker, and very explosives driven."

"That's Jackie all right!" Bulkhead laughed again. "Okay, we'll tell you guys about Darkmount pass, _after_ the time…"

Bulkheads words flew into the background, as I felt that cold presence again, and a shiver went down my spine. When I looked back over to "Wheeljack", his cold optics were narrowed onto me, and on his face was a disquieting smirk. He was looking at me like I was some prey about to be devoured. I quickly looked back to Bulkhead ignoring the gaze.

_He knew._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Rachel has a lot on her mind, what with wanting to get home, figuring out that artifact, moving soon, figuring out what she should do with her knowledge if anything at all, and meeting a Con, it's a lot of stress. Everything made worse by her stress signaling to other's there's something wrong, which is what she's trying to avoid. Poor Rachel, mwahahaha.
> 
> Criticism's? Questions? Theories? Want to just say Hi? Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Also Note: I don't own Transformers, nor Prime. Just boring talks with Optimus and Rachel over not being able to be home.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17:**

"So there we were - No communications, low on Energon surrounded by Cons." Bulkhead stooped low and swept his arms, his optics focused. It was as if I could see the purple Cons surrounding him as they charged there cannons, ready to fire. "So what does Wheeljack do?" Everyone leaned forward, thoroughly engrossed by the tale, I tried my best not to look to my left, avoiding eye contact with the Decepticon who had scooted a bit too close for comfort. Bulkhead laughs, "Tell them Jackie!" Bulkhead gestures for Wheeljack to take over, and I flinched, my brain trying to estimate where the best spot is to hide when the Con goes on the attack. The fake stayed silent for a moment, and my muscles tensed.

"Well… what I do best," the Con grinned and pointed at himself.

Bulkhead laughed jovially at the memory. "He chucks his only grenade smack into the primary heat exchanger" He mimed throwing a grenade and grinned.

"Yeah, seemed like a good idea at the time," he said nonchalantly, looking at us.

Bulkhead threw his servos in the air in an exploding motion. "The joint went supernova!" Miko looked so awed I was severely concerned the girl would try a recreation at some point.

"Awesome!" Miko said amazed, and I relaxed a little. I would be amazed too, if it weren't for the fact I was extremely concerned of the giant evil robot right next to us.

"Yeah, I'm _still_ picking shrapnel out of my backside." The Mech rubbed his back in memory.

"I'm not surprised," Arcee spoke up from her wall, "given the size of your backside."

Bumblebee who was standing with his arms crossed buzzed in agreement.

"There it is - Jackie's signature." Bulkhead bent closer to us. "One grenade, one shot-" he looked towards Wheeljack, then did a double take. "Hey, you alright?" He waved his servos in front of "Wheeljack's" face, snapping him out of his thoughts. My eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"You don't seem like yourself," Bulkhead asked concerned.

The Con got up into Bulkheads face, and I blanched. "Well, what do you mean?"

"I don't know. You seem quite," Bulky shook his head, leaning back a little.

The fake shook his own head, trying to focus. "Aw, i've been stuck in a can too long. I should go topside before I get stir-crazy." The "Wrecker" grinned.

"I have patrol in the morning. You can come with."

"Let's go now," the liar looked towards the tunnel to the exit.

"And break up the party?" Bulkhead asked incredulously. "Come on! The gangs loving you! You got to tell them about the battle of Darkmount Pass. I promised," Bulkhead insisted excitedly.

" _You_ tell them. You're better at it," "Wheeljack" insisted a bit aggressively.

His optics fell onto Miko.

"How about if Miko here shows me the rest of your base?" He smiles. A hot anger welled up in me as he singled out Miko. It was surprising to me, but I could see why the emotion cut through the fear. Makeshift can target the Bots, heck even the human military and I wouldn't get angry, if anything I'd be scared out of my mind. I'm not a hero by any definition of the word, I know when i'm far outmatched, but when you target kids? That boils my blood. Miko can't defend herself.

_Need you reminding neither can you?_

I had a plan bubbling in my brain. Okay, maybe not a plan as much as a goal, to rectify that problem.

"Well, uh, yeah sure Jackie. Hey, go ahead." Bulkhead hesitantly relented. Miko hopped off the crate she had been sitting on.

"Tour starts now. Rachel, come along, then we can do a double tour." Miko said. That got my attention. This was not the time to be finally getting my official tour of the base. Forgive me if I found the company was a bit too murdery for my taste. I needed an excuse to get Miko, Raf, and Jack away from here, then grab what I need. A tour would prevent our escape.

"I'm not sure if-"

"Sure, why not," The Con agreed with a smile, and a chill ran down my spine. Miko looked up to the Bot, and motioned her arms to indicate he should follow her.

"Do you play any instruments? Can you fly? Have you thrashed more Decepticons than Bulkhead?" Miko started her questioning as they walked, the fake Wheeljack behind her, and me trailing far behind reluctantly.

I hated I couldn't do anything to get her away without the Con getting _in_ the way. Still, now that I think about it I could… yes, yes that might just work. Well, at least I didn't have anything to lose if it failed… probably.

Please work.

"Can you shoot? You make bombs, right? What's the biggest explosion you've ever made?" Miko widened her arms making a very accurate representation of an explosion. We had entered the hallway, the corridor familiar to me by now. Heck, most of the rooms I'd seen, I just didn't know what every room was meant for. Miko dismissed the small doors stating it's just for us humans to use before she turned right, down another hall. My eyes carefully watched the Con's back. He was looking at everything, like he was making note of the positions of places, maybe because he was making a map.

I swear if he so much as lays a finger on Miko.

_You'll what? Yell at him?_

Yesh. I don't have confidence in myself right now. That's harsh. Then again, one wrong move and I can be vaporized, or squished, or squeezed-

I bumped into something hard and fell onto my butt. I blinked rapidly and realized "Wheeljack" had stopped and I'd run right into his leg.

He glanced down at me, and his blue optics pierced me, like a bug being slowly pinned with needles. A bug struggling to get away, but those cold eyes kept it in place. Slowly, slowly the bug breaking itself apart. I chuckled nervously.

"S-sorry. Need to watch my step," I said, choking on the words a little. I rubbed my head. It was fine, if a little sore. I gathered my crutch and stood back up. Miko peaked around the Bot's legs to look at me.

"You okay?" She asked and I managed to nod. I swear I'd scream if I opened my mouth, because the Con was looking at me way too curiously and good God what if things go wrong and what if I mess everything up and what will I do and what if I fail?

Miko gestured to her right and continued walking. "So this is Ratchet's storage for doctor stuff. Bulkhead breaks a lot of his stuff," she quickly explained before turning left. She then turned around and started walking backwards while facing the Con. "How long have you known Bulkhead?" Miko continued her questioning. For once the girl paused to wait for a reply, the silence brought "Wheeljack's" attention. He paused in thought, then slowly answered.

"For awhile kid, met him when he joined the Wreckers."

"So you've been friends for awhile?" the Con nodded, and Miko smiled. Miko turned right, then pointed towards the two large swing doors in the wall. "This is the room where cubes are put. Ratchet says they have to reuse everything they can." The corridor had a strange smell, like copper, electricity, and oil together, which I knew made no sense. It was only a light smell though, not overpowering to the point of being nauseating.

"They can't make new cubes?" the Con asked.

Miko shrugged. "I've never seen it," she looked thoughtful, "then again they don't let us go near any of the Energon," she pouted. That's right, Energon was radioactive, and thus highly dangerous for humans to be exposed to.

Hey wait… how did that make sense if the planet was Unicron? Shouldn't the life on this planet of evolved to take that radiation into account? Or maybe that only applies to dark Energon.

Questions for later.

We turned right and a hallway opened to five garages. This area was familiar to me, this was-

"These are the Bot rooms! Bulkhead's is the one at the end to the left." Miko stood on her tippy-toes and pointed to said room. "Oh, if you're going to stay you can pick out your room! There's one right across from Bulkheads!" then she ran over to the branch that went to the left. "Come on! This is the cool stuff," Miko gestured and ran ahead.

The Con wasn't moving to follow I realized. He turned halfway around to look at me.

"Why don't you come in front? Would hate for you to bump into me again." He said this with no emotion, no smile or smirk to be found. Just those cold optics and a flat voice. There's no doubt that he knows I know _something._ But surely he can't know I know he's a Con.

Right?

This was just _fantastic._ Don't panic Rachel, stay calm and…. Be…. Nonchalant. Yeah.

I shrugged. "Sure," and walked past him, the ticking of my crutch echoing in the concrete hallway. As I passed him, the lights shone onto him, creating dark shadows that cast over his face. I couldn't help but notice how easily he could kill me then and there, so when I finally passed him, a great relief flooded me. I turned the corner and I was never so happy to see Miko. Thank God for Miko! I quickly walked besides her, a bit of a wobble in my step due to my slight shaking. Miko waited for the fake who leisurely turned the corner into the hallway.

"There's Arcee's room, I'm not allowed in," despite the frown on her face, the look in her eyes was way too mischievous, "But here! Here's the Bulkhead butt kicking room!" the Con looked confused.

"She means t-the training room," I opted to explain. Why am I opening my mouth?

"But it's _used_ for butt kicking. Bulkhead can pummel any of the Bots. Bet he can even best you," she grinned and looked towards the fake who chuckled.

"I'm sure no one can best me."

My throat constricted. Talk about double meanings, jeez. No, no he would be defeated. I just needed to make sure everything stays the same. That means convincing him I didn't know anything. This nervousness had to go. No if, buts, or what's about it. He wanted me in front so he can watch me better, that much is obvious. Was he afraid I'd go back and warn the Autobots? Had to be, it wasn't like he could be afraid of the little human hurting him. If I could prove I wasn't a threat, maybe I could get to the back again. Then, when we got _there_ I could…

This was a terrible plan, but it's the only one I have. As we continued down the hall, I leaned over to Miko.

"Hey, just how long does this tour take?"

"Why? You're not getting bored are you?" the puppy look she gave me almost broke my heart.

"No! No, that's not what I- what I meant was how _far_ do you think the tour will go. As in, how far are we going, in say, miles?"

She looked at me like I was crazy.

"Don't know, don't care," she shrugged and practically skipped on ahead.

Damn it, I needed that rod.

12

The base was huge. How can so much fit under a rock? It was mostly underground, I knew that, but still, how has this base not been discovered? The Cons should easily have access to military records and bases, on top of the fact they know the Autobots take care of three human kids who _all_ live in Jasper. With this giant facility, it's an easy guess.

Forget that for now. Plan one: Hope the base is larger than five miles. That plan is probably a no-go considering we're already looping back around. Plan two: Get behind Makeshift, somehow enter the storage and grab the rod, hide said rod, get back to the hangar, let the events play out, protect the kids.

With a weapon I don't know how to use…

God, what am I doing?

_Something...which is better than nothing, I guess._

I groaned.

"You sure you're okay Rache?" Miko asked in concern, halting in her explanation of the currently in-construction rooms we had just passed. Optics locked onto me, so I rubbed my head.

"Yeah, I think I might of hit my head a bit harder than I thought," I lied. We had just reached the storage rooms, a long hall with many large garage doors. I had seen the hall back when we checked on the Scraplet pod, if I'm remembering correctly. Do you think the Con would freak if I told him we might of missed some?

"Just give me a sec." I excused myself, breathing heavily. It wasn't difficult to fake considering i'm pretty sure I was actually hyperventilating. Miko dismissed me, turning back to our guest.

"This is the storage hall!" Her voice echoed down the poorly lit corridor.

_The perfect place to hide a murder._

_Not_ helping brain. I slunk over to a wall just a little behind the Con, standing between the seam of a door and the concrete, as if I was trying to sink into it and disappear. The Con was too focused on Miko to notice, and he passed me.

Okay, I was behind the Con, that's good, until he notices. I sat down on the floor, still trying to calm my body down by taking deep breaths. As I slowly quieted down, my eyes searched. 4B was where the rod is held, if I can get in there, I can grab the magical weapon. The door was like the others, locked down with a keypad to it's right. Said keypad was several feet off the ground, unfortunately far beyond my reach. Was there another way in? No, they'd surely of locked down any other entrances into the stores to protect it from theft.

My eyes focused on a human sized metal door on the opposite wall, just three garages away from where I needed to get into.

No way. There's no way it'll be open. And even if it is, the chances it'll actually lead into the storage room is extremely unlikely. The AutoBots would never overlook a security risk like that.

Still, no harm in trying I suppose.

I looked over to see Miko explaining the contents of each garage to the Bot. As quietly as I could, I snuck over to the door. Waiting for Miko to speak again so I could open the door without the noise being noticed.

"Here was where we have a pod that held Scraplets-"

I pushed opened the door and carefully let it shut again behind me.

I was in what looked to be a maintenance hallway, large tubes hanging from the walls and on the floor. A fine dust permeated everything, floating around in the hot stuffy corridor. Dust on the floor, in the air, dead bugs, on top of the Scraplet.

SHIT A SCRAPLET!

I jumped back, tripping on a wire and falling, my hands automatically covering my mouth to cover a scream. I froze, eyes wide and fixed on the metal body.

… And nothing happened. Slowly, I got out of my huddle to look over at the Scraplet. It's razor maw was agape, and I noticed that while it's eyes were open, they were dark. The thing was dead. Letting out a sigh of relief, I carefully got back up, dusting myself off. Giving the dead Scraplet a wide berth, I continued down the corridor, the terrain difficult to use my crutch in. It branched, one way left, the other right. I took the passage on my left, passing one door, than another, and finally a third. At the forth I stopped. The hot condensation of the room was clinging to my skin as I reached for the handle to the door. I turned it, and ever so slowly opening it. Inside was the hangar I was looking for.

Well I'll be damned.

Taking a mental note to mention the security hazard later, I entered. The maintenance hallway led onto a catwalk that overlooked the large room. It looked the same as the others i'd been in, all concrete and catwalks. From here, I could see the small rod on a large pedestal surrounded by large machines and tools. Multiple cameras pointed at the rod as well, with red lasers protecting the thing for extra measure. There was no way I could get past all of this stuff without triggering an alarm. I looked around the room for any sort of inspiration, when I saw my saving grace. A large yellow crane to my left. If I could grab the rod with the crane without disturbing any of the equipment, I'd be home free… or at least with a weapon to whack the Con with.

Once again. What the hell am I thinking?

As I got closer to the crane, I saw a major flaw in my plan. At the end of the crane was a hook, not a claw. Damn. I didn't have time for anything else.

Well, there is that weird connection I have with the artifact. And it _can_ turn into anything.

_Go ahead and use your mystic communication powers on the stick then. See where that gets you. Oh wait, I know! Nowhere._

There's no harm in trying, so I got nothing to lose but personal pride. I closed my eyes and reached out my left hand towards the pedestal. My mind focusing on the rod. Focusing... and waiting...I'm not feeling any different. Maybe I was doing this wrong.

_Or maybe you've finally gone insane._

What had I felt when I'd used it before? Well, really I'd only used it twice. Once as a glow stick, and the other time as a bat. I tried to recall what I had done to make it change shape when I'd changed it into a bat. There was… desperation, and… the cool feel of it under my fingers. I had wanted it to turn into something I could smash with. I was so scared it wouldn't change. That I'd be useless in the situation. This time I just wanted it to turn into something that can stand upright with a ring. Maybe like, a cow bell?

_With no bell._

Yes, with no bell. Need to stay quiet. So, I felt the cold metal under my fingers, the pulsating blue light, imagining the cylinder shifting into a bell. I opened my eyes and let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and gasped for air. I felt tired, sleepy, like I could go for a good nap just about now.

I looked at the pedestal and I froze.

The artifact was gone.

Where… how- It was in my hand. It was in my freaking hand. That made no sense, it wasn't there just a second ago, I'm positive. This thing was fucking insane.

And it was a cow bell. _Fan-freaking-tastic_.

Calm Rachel. Deep breathing, calmness and serenity. Don't think how useful it would of been to know that you could do that _before_ you wasted the time sneaking into a storage room with a Decepticon that's suspicious of you just outside.

Oh shit. There's a Decepticon that's alone with Miko right now!

I turned around and quickly ran back out the maintenance door, through the hallway and back to the door i'd entered from.

I can't magically have a glowing cow bell on me, right so, um… please turn back into a rod small enough to fit into my pocket?

The cow bell melted and I almost dropped it in surprise. The bell dissolved into a small rod the size of my palm.

Wow is this useful.

I shoved it into my left pocket and quietly opened the door.

"-say it does." A gruff voice sounded from the end of the hall. I carefully squeezed out of the maintenance corridor back into the main passageway slowly closing the door behind me. Both had their backs to me thankfully, so I began to walk towards the duo. I was way more confident now that I had something that I can actually use to defend the kids. That Con had it coming if he tried to use Miko as a hostage this time around.

The Con continued behind Miko. "So, uh, any way out of here besides bridging?" He asked still looking around.

"Why?" Miko stopped and turned around looking sadly up at the Bot, who almost stepped on her in distraction. "You're not planning to leave already, are you?" She smiled again and waved her hand as she went underneath the Bots' legs. "Come on, I'll show you, RACHEL!" She yelled down the hall using her hands as a megaphone.

"Here! Coming, one sec," I called out as I trudged to catch up to them. I was tired, and was struggled to keep my eyes open, though focusing on moving my feet helped me continue forward.

"You sure you didn't bash your brains Rachie? You look like a zombie," Miko noted. I walked past the Con to nudge Miko's shoulder.

"I'm fine. Takes more than just a bump on the head to knock me out," I smiled up at the Con and it took all my willpower not to just grab Miko and run then and there with his smirk. "I'll admit though Miko, you have way more energy than a person should have," I said looking back at her and resting my right hand on my heart in a mimic of exhaustion. "That or this is what happens when you don't exercise for a year."

"I was just telling Wheeljack I'd show him the entrance to the base."

"Which one, the elevator or the tunnel?" I asked, knowing full well a Bot can't fit in the elevator.

"Please, like I'd show him the elevator. He has to hear the vroom of his engines as the rock face comes right into his face before lifting! It's so fun!" Me and Miko have very different definitions of fun.

We began walking back towards the hangar, much to my relief. It was the home stretch. If we could get there, the events will play out, I can protect Miko, Raf and Jack, and all would be dandy when the real Wheeljack kicks Con aft.

"So, what was that about you being from another planet?" The fake asked, and a chill went down my spine. Am I just asking for it? Is that it?

"Oh that? Pfft, nothing," I waved my left hand in a dismissal. "I'm just new here too. Is what he meant."

Miko looked at me strangely. "What? It's super cool, not nothing! She's from a mirror verse, like I saw in a show once," she wiggled her fingers.

"Miko, that's definitely not it."

"Isn't it?" She nudged my arm and I looked at her unimpressed.

"No Miko. Alternate Earths just mean that most things are the same except for key differences. In my world there ain't Cybertronians except in fiction."

"Fiction?" The Con asked baffled.

"Oh, uh- what I meant was most things are the same compared to Miko's experiences, which is a metaphor for fiction." What just came out of my mouth? That made no sense. Whatever, go with it.

The Con looked even more lost.

"-ook, I know Wheeljack better than anyone." We overheard Bulkhead as we approached the hangar. Curious, we picked up our pace. Wheeljack passed me and Miko, entering the hangar first.

"Hey. What are you guys talking about?" He asked.

"I was just telling the guys all about you and me at the battle of Darkmount Pass," Bulkhead narrowed his optics, an uneasy tension in the room.

"That's a heck of a story," the fake bluffed.

"Yep. Tell it," Bulkhead glared, pointing a finger in the fake's face.

"Talk, talk, talk. How about _after_ we go off-roading?" Miko rolled her eyes and rolled up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Miko! Stay out of this!" Bulkhead demanded, the outburst surprising us all.

"Bulkhead, easy." Arcee tried to calm the Wrecker down, coming closer to Bulkhead and laying a servo on his shoulder.

"I'm not sure I-"

"Tell it!" Bulkhead demanded, shrugging off Arcee. "Wheeljack's" expression grew increasingly darker, and I stuck my hand into my pocket, ready to pull out the rod when I needed to. The Con sighed.

"Fine. You want to live in the past, Bulkhead?" The "Wheeljack" gathered himself, looking down at us humans who had grouped together under the Bots.

The kids looked at each other at a loss for what was happening, I watched carefully.

"The Wreckers were trapped between a Decepticon patrol and the smelting pit. The Cons were vicious, bearing down on us with everything they had. Me and Bulkhead engaged the enemy, left them for scrap, then I made us a way out using their backsides as stepping-stones to cross the molten metal," His optics went to Bulkhead. "Isn't that how it happened?"

"Yeah. That's _exactly_ how it happened." Bulkhead gave in. "Wheeljack" smirked, confident in his victory.

"Except for one little thing." The Cons optics went wide, I brought my thoughts to the rod under my hand, ready.

"I wasn't there," Bulkhead glowered.

The room grew silent, and I quietly pushed Raf and Jack out of reaching range, going slightly in front of Miko to edge her back. She wasn't having it though, she was trying to push forward, confused by the change in events.

"I'd already left the Wreckers to join up with Optimus," He pointed at the fake. "But, you wouldn't know that if all you did was access Wheeljack's public-service record. "

"Bulkhead, what does that have to do with-!" Miko began to ask before I pulled out the rod and it burst into a scythe just as the Con reached for Miko. I did one wide sweep, and I felt the friction as the blade sliced the cons digits. He pulled his servos away, deciding instead to aim a charged cannon at Arcee as he pulled her into a chokehold. He quickly stepped away from the group towards the groundbridge controls. He jostled his cannon at Arcee as he met Ratchet's optics, the threat clear. Ratchet slowly backed away from the controls.

"Arcee!" Bulkhead called out.

"Stay back, or I'll shoot." Wow that voice was not pretty. It was coarse and rough like a snake. Makeshift turned slightly around to glare at Ratchet, who put his servos up. Arcee, struggled in the Cons grip, but his hold was too tight for the smaller Bot.

"Wheeljack, what are you doing?" Miko panicked, not understanding what had happened.

"Decepticon coward! Face me in a fight!"

"Don't fret," The Con grinned in an entirely too sinister way that looked just _wrong_ on the Wheeljack's face. "Plenty of fighting to come."

"Is there a _real_ Wheeljack?!" Jack questioned.

"Oh, indeed," the Con answered. "And I expect Lord Starscream is making sport of him." The fake typed into the Control panel. "About time," he smiled as he pulled the lever down. The groundbridge powered on, it's swirls of light casting shadows onto the Cons borrowed face as he slowly walked backwards towards the portal. Arcee swung her legs outward to pull them back in for a hard kick, causing the Cons hold to loosen. She jumped out of the Cons grasp, then went for an uppercut under his chin, causing the Bot to fly off the ground

-Just as a but-kicking Wheeljack came jumping through the bridge with a kick to the fakes back, causing the Cons to fly forward past Arcee.

"I'd shut that hole before the stink come through," the look alike Bot warned, drawing out what looked to be two katanas. Ratchet quickly went to the controls to turn it off. The fake got back up slowly, taking out the same swords as Wheeljack. They danced in a circle around each other, facing each others carefully. Bulkhead pounded his fist, ready for a fight.

"Ugly's mine," Wheeljack stuck out his sword to prevent Bulkhead from joining in.

They launched at each other, katana's clashing.

"Which one is the real Wheeljack," Raf asked adjusting his glasses.

"Uh, I lost track!" Miko pointed towards each one before giving up and clutching her head in confusion. My lips pursed together, and I stuck out my scythe to keep Miko, Jack and Raf from getting any closer.

One of the Wheeljack's dodge a slice, both coming together in a clash of blades again and again. The Wheeljack that had dodged, pushed the other into the corner, who blocked an incoming blade. When the other realized he was cornered, he spun around and tried to jump the other Wheeljack, the move failing and caused him to lose a katana. Down to one, the other Wheeljack disarmed him and kneed him in his chest, causing the disarmed Wheeljack to fall to the floor, leaving a pointed katana ready to pierce at the fallen ones spark.

"That's my Jackie," Bulkhead called over his shoulder at Bee and Arcee in affirmation.

Wheeljack, the _real_ Wheeljack turned towards Ratchet.

"You, hit the switch. It's time to take out the trash." The Bot looked down at Makeshift. Bulkhead approached Jackie, he looked at the green brute.

"All yours buddy."

Bulkhead reached down to grab the Con, just as Ratchet reopened the bridge. Bulkhead approached and spun the Con around throwing him into the portal, back to the Decepticon pit he'd crawled from.

Wheeljack looked at Bulkhead impressed. "Nice lob."

"You're injured," I commented staring at the Wreckers injuries. Scratches, and charred marks littered his chest, with a few cuts of bleeding Energon leaking from him. His optics landed on me, but there was no coldness, no warmth either, but that dark coldness wasn't present. If anything, he was curious. I could almost heave a sigh of relief.

Ratchet quickly approached the Bot scanning him with a device he'd gotten from who knows where. The Wrecker tensed, ready to tell Ratchet off, but Bulkhead calmed him down.

"Hey, hey Jackie. Don't worry, this is Ratchet, he's the Medic of the team. Just wants to make sure you're okay."

The ol' Bot spat out a glob of Energon and stared Ratchet in the face.

"I ain't need a Doc. I'm a Wrecker, and as a Wrecker I've handled far worst."

Bulkhead laughed, a bright smile lightening his face.

"That's Jackie all right. No doubt about it!" He slamed his servos into Wheeljacks back, which caused him to flinch, then grin.

"What was that?!" Miko asked still confused. Jack and Raf looked just as lost.

I shook my head. "Makeshift. A Con who specializes in spying by taking the faces of others," I explained. "He was a fake, sent to get the location of the base. The real Wheeljack was taken by the Cons." I let the scythe return back into the rod, and a sudden burst of dizziness rocked my senses, a chaffing pain emanating from my hands. There was explanations and discussion going on but I could barely follow. Instead of trying, I trudged up to the second floor and fell into the couch. Sleep quickly overtook me, with the rod safely wrapped in my arms.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

I awoke groggily by the noise of banging metal. A slight pressure behind my eyes welcomed me back into the world of the living, along with a light headache. I covered my ears in an attempt to block out the noise but, like before, the noise became too much for my senses. I slowly sat up on the couch, blinking, slightly disoriented and with a light pain pulsating inside my head. I clenched my eyes shut, pushing my palms at my eyes to help relieve the pressure.

God. Thinking. Go away. You hurt.

Priority for right now: Find somewhere else to sleep. Jeez was there a lot of noise, was someone having a construction party or something? I swear if I wake up to loud noises one more time I'll… do something. I can figure out an empty threat later.

I took a scrunched up blue blanket that was at my feet and placed it under my arm. Carefully, I rose using my crutch. I pocketed my phone on the table, and uncaringly patted down my hair.

The blue rod was in between the cushions, and after a moment's hesitation I grabbed it as well and put it into my other pocket.

I trudged down the stairs, looking briefly to my left to see Ratchet working on a weird white pod with wings. Kinda looked like a spaceship. Why is there a ship here? Forget it, later. Sleep now.

I walked down the hallway to the rest of the base, mind in that half-awake, half-asleep fog. Where's a bed? I think by the showers, or was it by the training room? Hey, why was I narrating to myself all the time?

As I approached the training room I heard loud noises. Grunting, ear scraping, metal clashing- God my ears! No!

Just go past. Quickly away. Pay no heed to the wicked deeds. You can scream in frustration later.

As I began walking past, I looked into the room to see green and white crashing together, a ball of green swinging, a white streak dogging. Slowly my mind began filling me in as the sleep ebbed away. The white Bot was Wheeljack (the real one), him and Bulkhead were sparring probably. No wait, that was a ball of metal, they were lobbing. Watching them pass it as they changed position was mesmerizing. My eyes flicked back and forth following the ball as they lobbed it. They each caught each others throws effortlessly, the time apart from one another having no effect on their skills. Bulkhead stepped in front of the door frame arms wide ready to catch, Wheeljack reeled back and threw the mass of metal. It launch over Bulk's hands though, and went over his head, gravity causing the ball to come back down.

Right towards me.

I screeched and launched myself out of the way, rolling on the floor before stopping. My heart was pounding and, as nearly dying will do, my sleepiness had completely disappeared.

"Rachel!" Bulkhead yelped in surprise, the distinct thud of his footsteps shook the ground and he leaned above me with a worried gaze. "Are you alright?!"

I laid my right hand on my chest trying to calm my beating heart.

"Yep. Just barely," I let out a relieved laugh. It was then I noticed in my hand was a still slightly extended rod that was slowly shrinking back. I hadn't even realized I had taken it out. I must have used it to help push me out of the way in time.

A worried low whirr snapped me away from my amazement. Bumblebee now stood next to Bulkhead, having come from the room, looking at me in concern.

I held out my hands placatingly towards Bee.

"I'm fine! Really, no harm no foul." I dusted myself off and tried my best to ignore the shaking in my limbs. Wheeljack was leaning against the door frame looking down at me, and for a second under his analyzing gaze, I became afraid again.

No, this is the _real_ Wheeljack and there's nothing to fear.

_Except getting crushed by the robo version of catch._

I found my crutch and slowly stood back up, rubbing my back where I had landed particularly hard. I bent down to pick up my dropped blanket, wrapping it around my shoulders to help stop my shivering, or at least help hide it.

"Well since I'm apparently completely awake now, what are you guys doing? Have you given Wheeljack the tour?" I asked, partially to fill myself in on what had happened while I was asleep, partially to change the subject away from myself, and partially to distract me from my body.

Bulkhead blinked, before nodding.

"Yeah, Miko showed him around. I'm surprised all the noise we were making didn't wake you up. You missed the whole welcome party!" He still had a worried look in his optics.

"Must have slept like the dead," I shrugged. It didn't escape my notice that the more I used the rod at a given point, the more tired I became. It gave me shivers thinking how the rod felt like it was sucking the energy out of me each use.

"Oh! Never introduced myself," I remembered, looking to Wheeljack. "I'm Rachel. It's an honor to meet you," I smiled.

The Bot smirked. "Name's Wheeljack, though I guess you already knew that." He nodded towards me, "that's quite a weapon you got there." There was an interested look in his optics. My smile turned into a grin.

"Want to take a look at it?" I asked. He considered for a moment before nodding. I tossed the rod over to him, and he caught it. He turned it this way and that as the rod slowly expanded in his servos. His optics turned and focused, trying to study it in detail. There was a long pause as he analyzed the weapon.

"What's it suppose to be?" He asked finally. He seemed slightly miffed he couldn't tell what it was.

"You're guess is as good as ours right now," I shrugged. "Ratchet hasn't figured it out. It sort of works like a Deception hunter, in that it can turn into anything you put your mind to, but it's not one." He gave back my rod after looking at it some more, apparently giving up, and the rod began reversing course to shrink in my hand.

"Yeah, I noticed the energy readings. Got some metal for using that thing. I could feel my energon depleting faster just holding onto it." My eyes widened.

What?

His energon was depleting faster just holding on to it? I knew it was emitting something, but it _took_ energy too? Literally? What the hell was it doing to me then? It hadn't escaped my notice that I'd often feel tired after using the artifact, but was it really sapping my energy? How did that even work? I'd have to ask Ratchet later, for now though-

"What can I say? I think the death stick's growing on me," I let out a nervous chuckle. "It has saved my ass on more than one occasion." I quickly pocketed the rod and pushed the subject onto my to-do list.

"If you hadn't protected Miko with that…" Bulkhead growled at the memory. Miko would have been the hostage, but the events really wouldn't have changed. Not that I could say that.

"Hey," I said tersely to grab Bulkhead attention. "It's not your fault. No one could have known,"

Bee buzzed in agreement, speaking in those clicks and whirrs he does. Damn did I wish I could understand him. Bulkhead shook his head angrily to whatever was said.

"It's not the same. I should have known immediately that it wasn't Jackie!" Bulkhead suddenly swung his fist into the wall in frustration, leaving a cracked indent in the concrete. "I put everyone in danger."

Wheeljack laid a servo on his friends shoulder. "It happens to the best of us Bulk, you know that. Remember that time Pyro almost led a Con spy to our base and we winged a kiloton explosion?"

"Pyro was young. I should have seen it."

"And you did." Wheeljack slammed his hand onto Bulkheads back. "Now stop all this sappy scrap. You ain't going soft on me, are ya Bulk?"

That seemed to lift Bulkheads spiri-, uh, spark. Bee went to grab the lob, while Jackie and Bulkhead were starting to wrestle to bring back the lighthearted mood. A sudden idea came to me.

"Hey, if you guys are sparring, can I watch?" I asked hopefully. I could use a pointer or two on technique, and I was hoping if Wheeljack used his katanas, I could start learning how to properly wield my own… weapon, stick, rod, artifact _thing_. Hey, WSRAT? Nah, bad acronym.

Bulkhead hesitated.

"Uh- I don't think that's the best idea consid-"

"Please? I'll be careful, I swear! I'll even stay behind the glass," I said, pointing towards the thick glass window that viewed into the shooting range. Bulkhead still looked uncertain, and turned towards Jackie.

"I wanted to do some weapons sparring anyway," he shrugged. Yes! Come on Bulkhead, say yes.

Bulkhead rubbed the back of his head, looking down at me, then towards Bumblebee who still held the lob in his hands. He turned back to me, and nodded.

"Alright, I guess. But stay behind the glass."

"Super duper!" I beamed, going ahead and walking into the training room. I took the nearest catwalk, and began the slow climb up and over to the window. The bots at some point had switched to speaking to each other in Cybertronian, so I tune them out and let my mind wander.

You know, I think my foot's all healed up. It doesn't hurt when I put weight on it, and when I checked it yesterday, there was just a big clotted scab. I'd still need to be careful, meaning no going barefoot for righty. But if I had to, I think I could go without the crutch. Though, I've gotten really use to the crutch, it feels like I've had it forever.

_Because you've had it since leaving the hospital last Friday._

1 week? Was that right? That means I was back home with my family, back to my normal, everyday life less than 2 weeks ago? So much has happened… first appearing here, then coming to terms with the situation (still working on that one), meeting the Autobots, Miko, Raf, Jack... then came the Scraplets, dealing with the government, and Makeshift, to finally get here at Wheeljack's arrival. So much had happened in such a short period of time, God, maybe that was the real reason I felt so drained.

I can't help but look in dred towards the future. If I'm already worn out now, how was I going to last? We haven't even gotten to Megatron's resurrection, let alone all that junk with dark energon.

A shiver went down my spine at the reminder. The thought of the agent of chaos and destruction lying beneath my feet right now…

I got to to the window, staring out to see that the firing range was much larger than I expected. It seems this area was once used for some kind of testing, as the walls were completely made of metal. I couldn't see the top from my vantage point. I guess the firing range was used as an overall weapons testing and sparring area, to my suprise. Bulkhead and Wheeljack faced each other inside the range, Bulkheads right servos switched to a mace-like weapon with glowing grooves, while Wheeljack took out his katanas.

I paid careful attention to Wheeljack's form. He had both his legs spread out to the distance of his hips, his left in front, slightly bent, while his right leg was straight. He gripped his katanas near where a hilt would normally be, and crossed his blades. I brought out the rod, copying Wheeljack's stance as best I could.

" _Beep, Whirrrr!"_

My back shot up in surprise, as I turned to see a visibly upset Bumblebee. I had forgot he was still in the room, he was so quiet. It was strange considering how much he talks when he gets his voice back. He didn't look happy, but I couldn't quite place his expression. Which is weird, and I know I shouldn't put human emotions on these guys, though I suppose I can because they were designed for audiences to be able to do so. That was besides the point, my point is it was weird how easily I could usually recognize the emotional states of an alien robot, which makes it note worthy when I couldn't.

"What?" I couldn't tell what he was upset or concerned about.

He buzzes lowly and points towards the rod.

"Wouldn't it be a good thing to learn to defend myself?" I ask. A loud buzzer noise sounded from Bee, like I had said the wrong answer on some game show. He shook his head, and pointed to himself. Then he began miming boxing some unseen enemy.

"I'm not trying to imply you guys can't protect us. That's not what this is. I just thought, you know, if I have this thing and it's stuck to me, might as well learn how to make it useful," I shrugged. "It just sort of hit me back when we were fighting against the Scraplets. I had no idea how to fight. How to _use_ this weapon." I looked down at the rod in my hands. "When Makeshift reached down to grab Miko, I just swung around wildly. I could have serious hurt someone like that," I looked up into Bee's optics. Surely he understood the wish to be useful?

I looked back to the range to see Bulkhead swing his mace, Wheeljack jumping out of the way before diving in towards Bulkhead. To my surprise though, Bulkhead swung the flail, and a chain let the ball extended. Bulkhead attempted to use the chain to trap Wheeljack. He saw this coming, and ducked underneath the swing and fell back. The mace came back to attach to Bulk's hand, and the brute came charging forward. Wheeljack grinned, a face plate coming up as he too charged. Just before they met, Wheeljack used his katanas to push himself outside of Bulkhead, his katana stopping just before his neck.

Then I noticed Bulkhead's charged gun pointed at Wheeljack. Bee buzzed in agreement in the tactic. And here I thought Bulkhead was always the brute force kind of guy. Still, they ended with a tie. I decided to stay and watch for a little while longer.

13

I stayed watching as long as I could, before my headache decided to remind me it was still very present and currently was very angry at me for doing anything but sleep. Bee had already left at some point, so I decided to go back to the hangar to see if Ratchet was done with fixing Wheeljack's ship.

I was now very aware of the rod in my pocket. So, not only did this thing give off weird radiation that may or may not affect my health, but it also may or may not be literally sucking the life out of me. Well isn't that just grand!

I didn't have to use the thing, but it would be pretty handy to be able to use the weapon that can turn into _anything_ and that's _stuck_ to me. Maybe if I wear a hazmat suit at all times I could use it.

I entered the hangar and immediately noticed a familiar tan sedan. Then, I noticed a familiar suit-and-tie government agent talking to a familiar tall red and blue (handsome) Autobot leader. Fowler was standing on the second floor platform so he could be as close to eye-level as he could with Optimus.

"Hey, Agent Fowler!" I greeted. Fowler and Optimus looked down at me. "Prime," I greeted. Optimus nodded towards me. I went past them towards Ratchet who was working under Wheeljack's ship.

Might as well ask now, right?

"Hey Ratchet."

Ratchet shot up in surprise, hitting his head on the ship and dropping whatever tool he was using. He brought his servos to cradle his head, cursing under his breath. He slowly pulled out from under the ship to sit up, still cradling his head and shooting me a glare like a thousand scalpels.

"What?!"

"Uh, sorry there. Didn't think I'd startle you so bad." Eh. I was actually okay with it.

"Well you did. I'm very busy right now. If you're bored, go bother someone else." He got up and went to searching through a tool box near him.

"I was hoping to ask you about something Wheeljack said actually."

"Ask Bulkhead."

"It's about our mysterious artifact." That got his attention. I brought it out of my pocket, it's ethereal blue glow casting around me. He looked surprised.

"I let Wheeljack check it, and he said he couldn't figure it out either." Ratchet scoffed and rolled his eyes, as though that was obvious.

"Not done. Cause he said what he did notice was his energon depleting just holding onto it." Ratchet looked at me, and frowned. I raised my eyebrow, an open invitation for an explanation.

"Didn't I tell you it's effects on a human is unknown."

"You said it forms a bond with it's user. That it's heath effect is unknown. Also either you or someone else mentioned possible radiation," I frowned and crossed my arms, glaring at the Medic. "That it may or may not be sucking the literal life out of me is a very important point to note!"

"How did you even get a hold of it? It was to be monitored at all times to prevent such risks." Whoops.

"Well it worked out didn't it? If I didn't have it, Miko would of been nabbed by Makeshift," I considered the artifact in my hand. "It could be a useful tool."

"We don't know what it is." Ratchet dismissed.

"Well, we know it's stuck to me, _and_ it's probably the cause of my lethargy." I looked at Ratchet unimpressed.

"Lethargy?" Ratchet asked. I nodded.

" Yes. I only recently put two and two together, but after using the rod, especially as a weapon, I became very tired. I thought it was just the adrenaline crash, but now I'm worried it really is the rod. Looking back, it would make sense. I was very tired by the end of my first night here. I had just used the rod as a flashlight, but when Bee took me through the groundbridge I just zonked right out. Then, when I used it as a bat against the Scraplets, and again, after using it against the fake Wheeljack. I became very tired after just one use, especially tired after two uses. Even today, I've had this really bad headache and I just feel… weak," I shrugged, and pulled the blanket closer to myself. It was a bit embarrassing admitting all this to Ratchet, but he was the doctor, and this did have to do with alien technology and health.

The hair on me suddenly went up and goosebumps spread down me, a red ray following the feeling. I looked up to see Ratchet aiming his health scanner right at me. Breach of privacy much? Shouldn't he have to ask for permission first? Ugh, whatever.

Ratchet looked to his arm to confirm the results and nodded, frown still on his face. He looked back at me, concern on his face.

"Go ahead and give it here Rachel," he said calmly. The sudden change in tone was jarring. I complied, handing over the artifact, a shiver running down my spine as I did so.

"Come on Doctor, don't leave me hanging," I forced out a chuckle. "What are the results?"

Ratchet looked at me. Really looked at me then. He closed his optics and sighed.

"You are correct in that the artifact runs by taking it's power from it's user, at least as far as I can tell. I assumed that, as humans have no Energon, what you would be able to do with it would be limited, or the artifact would have to get it's power from a different energon source. It did not occur to me that it would attempt to change to draw from an organic energy source." He looked down at the rod.

"Alright," I took a deep breath. "Is there anything else I should know?" I looked directly into his blue optics.

"...No."

I exhaled. "Okay."

"Try not to use it in the meantime, if you can stop yourself," Ratchet suggested as he fiddled with his scanner, before sighing and turning back to Wheeljack's ship.

"I can't stay in one place forever Ratchet. I'm going to have to deal with the effects it has eventually, it's like you said. Bonded to me."

He nodded. "I know," he turned his head towards me, "I'll figure something out," he sighed again.

14

The space bridge closed behind us as we stood behind the two friends. No, _brothers_ , saying their goodbyes. All too quickly Ratchet had finished patching up Wheeljack's ship and now he was ready to go as quickly as he came.

"There's room for two, Bulk, even with a backside like yours. Who knows who we might find out there- some of the old crew?" The older Mech looked at Bulkhead with a glint in his optics. Miko visibly deflated, curling into herself.

Bulkhead looked down thoughtfully, then looked over his shoulder at us. Miko rubbed her arm knowing full well what the obvious choice was. Bulk had known Jackie far longer than he'd ever been with or known Miko.

_What were we in the eyes of these giants?_

In the corner of my eye I saw the blue shining artifact on Arcee's hip. I tried to give a smile to Miko, but she wasn't paying attention to anything but the ground. Jack draped a hand on her shoulder in comfort. Bulkhead laughed, "Heh, sounds like fun Jackie…

But, my ties are here now, with them…", he nodded his head towards Miko, "with her." Miko looked up with joy and surprise. Wheeljack nodded, understanding, and looked over at the human.

"If anything happens to my favorite Wrecker, I'm coming after you." He smiled, as did Miko.

"I'll take good care of him," Miko beamed. She got out her phone. "Now, say cheese." She closed an eye and aimed the phone camera. I looked over to see a picture of the two mechs looking down at the phone.

With that, Wheeljack gave a generic lazy salute, and entered his ship. We stayed until we could no longer see it in the sky.

_What were we in the eyes of these giants?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't know what to say, but I've been really busy. I'll be frank, I'm a junior in Uni wanting to get into Med School, so this school year I'm going to be very busy. I started this chapter over a month ago and hit a writer's block. I know where I want to go, and even have some future chapters done, but it's filling in the parts I don't have thats difficult.
> 
> Still, considering this is my first fanfiction, I'm dedicated to seeing this through. I'll try my best to not go this long without a chapter again, but I can't promise they will be as scheduled (or what I passed off as scheduled) updates for awhile. My goal for right now, is at least a minimum of a chapter a month.
> 
> As usual, I reserve the right to edit if I see a mistake or error.
> 
> Criticism's? Questions? Theories? Want to just say Hi? Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Also Note: I do not own Transformers Prime, or Transformers, just Rachel. Maybe she feels like it's been longer because I've been taking too long to update :/


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

We entered back into the base, Miko jubilated at the knowledge of Bulkhead's friendship, Bulkhead satisfied with the knowledge of his friend scouring the stars, and me questioning my existence in all of this, yet again.

Putting such existentialism aside for now, my attention turned to Jack, who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. We were walking next to each other, everyone else well ahead of us, already beginning to scatter to their respective duties. He didn't notice my pointed staring.

"Hey Jack," I said to finally get his attention.

"Huh?" His head shot up and he shook it. "Sorry, was a bit distracted, yeah Rachel?"

I frowned. Was something on his mind? Was it serious? Did he need help? Another question, could I not just leave people alone without having to try to tear apart what they were thinking?

"Are you alright?" I asked anyways.

His blue eyes danced between mine, as if trying to discern the intention behind my question.

I found it a bit uncanny. In my mind, I couldn't help but still see him as this 3D CGI character. But here he was, breathing, thinking, worrying. He was so human, it caused a bit of a disconnection in my mind.

He smiled and shook his head.

"I'm fine, just thinking about what happened back there. You wouldn't know this, but we haven't actually known the Autobots that long." he glanced over to the Bots who were ahead of us in the hangar."That Bulkhead would rather stay here? With us?" He shook his head in astonishment.

Right, not supposed to know how long they've been here. Really need to make a list.

"If it's here or there, does it matter? It's a unique and new experience. Miko might be dead by the time he'd come back, if he ever did." Jack flinched back, as if I'd physically struck him. I hadn't anticipated the reaction. Should I not have said anything?

It was harsh, but true. Hell, all that caring Bee shows to Raf seems to be thrown entirely out the window. The most the three of them get in Robots in Disguise is a quick reference.

"But-! No! He cares about her. You saw that too." Jack countered.

"I never said that he didn't. In fact you're right, he cares about her, but eventually Miko, and you, and Raf, and even me, will die long before they do," I gestured towards the bots talking across the hangar, "We don't even scratch a portion of their lifespan."

I passed Jack, leaving him to consider all that implies by himself. I had things I needed to do, namely visiting my new abode before I moved in. That meant I needed someone to take me.

Bee was transformed into his car form, door opened and Raf already scooting in to head back home. I quickly rushed over.

I leaned into the car, speaking to the dashboard.

"Hey Bee, since you're dropping off Raf back home, could you drop me off here?" I asked, flipping open my phone and showing the address Agent Fowler had sent. "is your house close to here Raf?" I showed him the address as well.

"Oh! That's really close to my neighborhood!" Raf smiled. I wanted to pinch his cheeks. He reminded me so much of Carie.

Bee buzzed and Raf translated.

"Bee says he's okay with it as long as you tell Ratchet."

"Why?" I asked. I wasn't ill. Bee beeped this time, and Raf's eyebrows furrowed.

"He says because he told everyone that you need to be watched in case your health fails, and you need a Bot to hold the artifact at all times when you're out."

 _Great_. So the bots had to baby-sit me.

"I don't understand. What do they mean? Are you sick Rachel?" Raf asked me, worry clouding his face.

I patted Raf on the back.

"No, it's a joke Raf. The artifacts heavy, so they don't want it to wear me down." I winked. "I'll be right back."

I walked over to Arcee. She was conversing with Ratchet, the conversation stopping at my approach.

"I'm going to visit my new abode Agent Fowler set me up with." I pointed my thumb behind me to the waiting Bot. "I have to, Fowler already promised I'd stop by this week."

Ratchet didn't look pleased, but he nodded.

"Fine, but don't go out of Bumble Bees range. And if the artifact appears near you at any point you are _not_ to touch it under _any_ circumstance. Understood?"

I nodded like the good girl I am. Arcee walked towards Bee, who opened his trunk. She placed the the artifact into the it, the glowing blue temporarily lighting the dark space before Bee shut it.

"I'll try not to keep Bee too long." I saluted Ratchet, turning around to be on my way.

I entered the back of the Chevy, Raf scooting over to let me in. We buckled up and were quickly on our way.

Raf was fiddling with some remote control, red and blue wires sticking out of it in all sorts of places. I looked over intrigued.

"Whatcha doin' Raf?"

"It's… something I'm working on," he glanced over at Bee and leaned towards me, hiding his mouth with his hand. I leaned over as well, a bit amused at the poor attempt at secrecy.

"It's a surprise, I don't want Bee to know about it yet," he whispered. I nodded.

"Maybe later then," I smiled. I looked over to the front again, only to see the mirror facing us. I laughed and shook my head. It seemed Bee was curious too.

"Do you guys usually ride in silence?" I asked changing the subject.

"Oh, no we usually don't, but... you might not like our taste in music," Raf hesitated.

"I'm not picky," I shrugged, taking out my phone. I realized too late that I should have asked Fowler for the home owners number. Nothing I could do about it now but text Fowler to tell _her_ I'm on my way to visit.

Bee buzzed and Raf nodded his head, still focused on his project.

"That one's good Bee," Raf agreed.

Bee's radio turned on and adjusted the volume, increasing it before a text saying 'PLAY' flashed on the small radio screen.

I wasn't surprised when techno started booming in the car.

15

Bee and I rolled past Raf's house after the door closed. I got out my phone and repeated where the address was. Bee beeped an affirmative and I looked outside, trying to keep track just how far I'd be living from Raf. Past three streets, a left on a Cherrywood, and a right on a Sequoia, we pulled around to the third house in a cul-de-sac.

The house was one story with a red tile roof. It was painted brown, with a light blue door next to a large white garage door on the right. Nice green grass spread across the lawn, and pretty flower beds lined the walls next to the door. The house number was displayed just under two lanterns next to the door.

Bee buzzed and I nodded.

"This should be it." I unbuckled my seat belt. "I'll try not to take long. Just want to check it out. Meet my new roomate."

Bee whirred questioningly.

"The homeowner is an old lady. Hopefully she's friendly." I explained, looking at the front door. "And more importantly, hopefully not too curious." I slowly got out of the car and made my way towards the front door. As I got closer I could make out the flowers in the bed to bestrange red leaved plant and purple flowers, as well as beautiful dark red roses.

_This lady sure has weird color coordination._

I took a deep breath, pushing my thoughts to the side, focusing on the task at hand. I knocked on the the light blue door, checking my phone for the last time ensuring it was the right address.

Shuffling and the sound of an unlocking door brought my eyes back up. The door creaked open, and an old brown women in a maroon shawl and long sky blue dress appeared. She was maybe 4"6 or "7, and despite her straight posture, she held a wooden cane in her left hand. She had vivid brown eyes, white hair pulled into a bun in the back, and a single mole under her left eye. The wrinkles she had did not hide what must have once been a beautiful face. Her eyes quickly swept over me, and I plastered on a smile, opening my mouth for a greeting.

"Not interested," she went to slam the door.

"Wait!" I blurted and she hesitated. "Is-is this not the house with the room for rent? I'm Rachel Evensbrough-" her eyes widened and the crinkles on her face deepened with a bright laugh.

"Ah! Well why didn't you say something sooner?" She chastised as she widened the door, turning around to leave for deeper into the house, calling back at me to "come in, come in."

A little stunned, I hesitantly entered, taking off my shoes at the front and closing the door behind me. My eyes took in my surroundings. The entrance led down a corridor, an open doorway on the left, and a bigger entrance on the right, just across from the first. The walls were a white stucco, paintings of flowers and scenic gardens hanging occasionally from the wall. The smell of something warm with spices wafted from the left. I hesitantly followed the smell.

A medium sized kitchen greeted me, with black and white checkered tiles on the floor and fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling. A little to my left was a sink and a tan counter wrapped around half of the room. Light brown wood cabinets lined underneath and above the counters. A black oven-stove took a gap across from me, the old women currently cooking something in a pot. A small square wooden table was pushed against the wall on the far right side of the kitchen, with two chairs against it facing each other. The old women hummed to herself while stirring as I entered.

"Why don't you tour the house while I finish this? Your room will be the one down the hall opposite the living room, on the left across from the bath." She turned around to face me, eyes dazzling.

"Then you can join me for dinner." I thought back to Bee waiting outside in the driveway for me.

Seeing my hesitation, she tsked and put a hand against her hips.

"Do you have someone waiting for you mija?"

"Uh, no ma'am. But the cars borrowed." She nodded in understanding.

"I'm almost done. But, if you're really in a rush, I can pack it for you to take." I smiled at the kind gesture, but I shook my head.

"If it's almost done, there no reason we can't enjoy a meal and talk." I gestured behind me. "Past the living room, down the hall on the left?" She nodded, and turned back to her cooking. I turned around and went towards the other doorway that opened up into a small living room. A window was on the wall to my left that showed a quaint backyard and an increasingly dark sky. To my right was a surprisingly new TV.

_Probably a gift from her son._

In front of the TV was a leather recliner chair with an unfinished grey blanket. Next to the chair was a small table cluttered with newspapers, yarn, and crochet needles. A nice large persian rug laid on top of the white carpet floor underneath it all. A large couch took up the right wall next to the window.

I passed through the living room to the other doorway, flicking on a switch that lit up the hallway. The floor shifted from carpet to wood, and the walls were a plain off white. There were four doors, two on my right, and two on my left. I turned left, opening the first door. A bathroom greeted me with a porcelain tub-shower combo (along with a very old-lady like flower shower curtain), a toilet, and a sink. I closed the door again and walked over to what I assume would be my room.

I opened the door and entered, hands immediately looking for the light switch as it was too dark to see. Once I found it right next to the door, I turned back around to see -

A very plain room.

Off-white carpet floor, tan walls, a wooden fan, a queen sized bed on my left, a window right across from me, a small desk against the wall next to the window, and what I assumed to be a closet to my right. I walked over to swing it open, and sure enough, a small empty closet greeted me.

Huh.

I don't know why, but I expected something a bit more… exciting?

_Your in an alternate universe. Sorry not everything's going to be giant robots, and government conspiracies._

Well, I know that, but this was just so… normal?

Jeez, what's wrong with me? Normal is good. Normal is _safe._ Remember normal? Home, the magical place your trying to get back to?

I rubbed the bridge of my nose to calm myself. I was too on edge lately. This was nice. This place would be nice.

I opened the blinds, the window showing me the wonders of grass and the neighbors wood fence.

"Foods almost ready!" Mrs… I actually don't know her name. Wow, well this is embarrassing.

I closed the blinds and looked around the room one more time before turning off the lights and making my way back to the kitchen.

"Wow, that smells really good! What is it?" I asked taking in the smell of spices, tomato, mmm something with corn and butter.

"Come sit and find out." She smiled, putting down two plates and glass cups on the small table, taking a glass jug to fill with water.

"I can do that." I insisted, going to grab the jug to help. She glared at me and I stopped mid grab.

"No. You sit down, you're a guest," she snapped. I blinked in surprise and nodded. Taking a seat at the small table, I sat down taking another look at the kitchen.

The old woman's shoulders relaxed, and glanced over at me.

"I have strict rules for guests. Don't worry, once you move in, you won't be a guest anymore and I'll put you to good work." I smiled. I never thought I'd actually miss chores.

"I guess you've gone through this process before?" The practically empty guest room was a big hint towards that.

"Yes, they come and go. It's my son's work you see, he works for the government is all he can say, BAH!" She took the jug and set it down hard onto the table. "Not even time to call his poor mother. What kind of son did I raise? Useless." She went to a counter and brought over the wonderful source of those smells. It was tamales with a side of beans. She set her cane against the wall, then sat down.

"Go ahead and eat as much as you'd like mija. Heavens know how they feed their employees. So young too," she shook her head. I began to fill my plate. I thought about correcting her assumption, but thought better of it. She might become suspicious if I said I wasn't a government employee, and wasn't I technically an employee now? I would be getting a salary, for information, work if you will.

It made me feel a little guilty again, so I stuffed it down with the tamales.

It did make me curious though.

"What did A-err _Mr_. Fowler tell you?" I said in between bites. Damn this was good food. I didn't realize how much I had missed a home cooked meal.

Her mouth pursed as she thought. I picked up my glass to drink some water.

"That you're a young women, just starting work at the agency. That you needed someone to stay with," her eyes twinkled, "and a warning that you can be very disrespectful."

I choked on my water, barely managing to hold down a spit-take. She was laughing as I coughed.

Damn that Fowler. I was a perfect angel when I wanted to be. "Said good things about you" he said. "I expect you to deliver" he said. What a jerk.

Once I calmed down, I shook my head and chuckled.

"Me and Mr. Fowler don't always get along." I explained.

"No?" She smiled behind her glass of water.

"No. But I have the intention to be as well behaving as I can ma'am. I assure you."

She nodded.

"Well that's good. Some of these people come in here thinking it's a hotel! Rude, demanding. This is my home, if you wanted something else, well I say, they can go _somewhere_ else." She nodded. An annoyance passed on her face at the recollection.

"How many people have come through here?"

"All the time. All the time! I'm an old women, I don't have the energy to deal with so many people anymore."

"Excuse me if this is rude, but wouldn't you get lonely? Living all by yourself?"

She laughed.

"You think like my son. He feels guilty he can't be here for me, so he sends a bunch of strangers when I can take care of myself. Nothing but a bunch of trouble. What, do I have a revolving door?"

"If you'd rather be alone, I don't have to move here. I can find lodging elsewhere. There's plenty of other options." Last thing I wanted to be was a nuisance.

"Oh! I didn't mean-" she corrected. She smiled "you're more than welcome to stay here mija"

A warmth passed between us and I realized, while this place couldn't replace home, it could give me a little piece of it.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out and saw I had received a message from an unknown number.

"Sorry, one second"

I opened my phone to read it.

_Need to get back. You going to be much longer?_

Wait, who?

"Is everything alright?" The lady asked in concern.

"Yeah, that was my friend. Apparently he needs the car."

She suddenly looked at me in an all too understanding way.

"Oh, a _boy_ friend?" I suddenly realized what conclusion she had jumped to.

"What? No no no. It's not- not even," I shook my head. "Just no." She laughed at my embarrassment.

"Would you like to take some of this to go?"

"Yes please. It was amazing, I didn't realize how much I missed a home cooked meal."

Her eyes twinkled, and she got up to go to a cabinet full of tubaware.

"I'll pack some extra for your boyfriend."

My face heated up, but when she came back over to me to hand over the packed food I didn't make a fuss about the comment. Putting that aside for now, I needed to know one last thing.

"This is a bit embarrassing, but never actually told me your name, Ms?"

"That's just like them! To put a nice girl with a stranger and not tell her anything. Government these days," She sighed. "You can call me Ms. Nunez. It was very nice to meet you."

We both traveled back to the front door, me quickly slipping on my slippers. It just occurred to me that I'd completely forgotten my crutch, my right foot was still bandaged though. Turned out okay I guess.

"Also, just like the them," Ms. Nunez apparently picking the conversation back up, "I'm not sure when exactly you'll be moving in. Everything's ready, but I'd rather not be surprised."

"Oh, well I should be getting my stuff sent by Friday, so if it's not an inconvenience, I was thinking this Saturday or Sunday?" Tomorrow Fowler promised my stuff would come in, and it's not like I had a ton to move, so it will probably only take a day.

"That's fine by me," she waved her hand. "Mr. Fowler informed me some things will be shipped here tomorrow. The rooms ready for you tonight if you would like to stay," Ms. Nunez offered. I shook my head.

"Borrowed car, and I need to tie up some last things. Is it okay if I get your number? I'll let you know tomorrow when i'll be an official resident of the Nunez house."

We exchanged information, and I said my final goodbyes as I left the house, heading back to Bee who, as soon as the front door of the house shut, opened the passenger door for me. We were quickly on our way back to the base.

Bee buzzed questioningly.

"It was nice, sorry for taking so long Bee, I couldn't say no to good food," I lightly adjusted the food in my lap and smiled. "She was nice. I think I'll like staying there."

My eyes narrowed at the dashboard.

"More importantly though, was that you who sent me that text Bee?"

He whirred in what I assumed was an affirmative.

"Wow! That's handy, why don't you do that more often? Oh, wait, that's right, Cons have access to texts." I deflated a bit. My dreams of conversing with a young Bee dashed.

Bee put on upbeat trap music as a condolence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This took me awhile. Also, a question.
> 
> Sorry for the long wait, idk why but this took me awhile.
> 
> A question for you guys, should I skip to the weekend, or do you want me to write about Friday? It'll just be about moving stuff, more of Ms. Nunez. It won't be exciting, maybe more internal contemplating of Rachel, otherwise it'll be time for another episode.
> 
> As usual, I reserve the right to edit if I see a mistake or error.
> 
> Criticism's? Questions? Theories? Want to just say Hi? Comments are appreciated!
> 
> Best way to know when a new chapter is out is by following the story. I'll be updating chapter progress on my Profile.
> 
> Also Note: I do not own Transformers Prime, or Transformers, just Rachel and Ms. Nunez.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

I didn't know what to write for my first report. Did I put my name on it, or is it supposed to be anonymous? How did they want me to format it? What should my first topic be? Should I start with something really big?

Perhaps they had example papers on Google. Ah, wait, no Google. Also, it's not likely they have a format on how to properly structure government documentation for your alien report.

Or maybe I should just go for it. Write something like: Hi, Rachel here. Hey government peps, did you know that the core of your Earth is actually the ancient Cybertronian deity of chaos? Just a little fun trivia fact.

Maybe starting off with a softball would be better, like dark energon. Would that be suspicious? I feel like if it wasn't suspicious, me bringing the topic up first would quickly make it suspicious. That's not even mentioning that I have no clue how much they already know.

I can't tell them too much, nor could I tell them too little. All while keeping the future vague. A perfect balance.

I sigh and fall backwards onto the bed, the mattress creaking beneath me. My glasses had gone askew on my face, but I didn't care at the moment. I was too busy glaring at the ceiling with seething frustration.

I hated writing, and this is how I'm supposed to support myself for the foreseeable future. I barely passed every essay I've ever written in school. I mentally shuddered at the memory of my near fail in my senior English class back in high school. Yes, this was a great plan you've set yourself up for Rachel. Bravo!

I sigh again, checking my phone for the fifth time in the last two minutes. Still nothing new. Still waiting for someone to pick me up. I had been changed and ready for three hours, with a pair of jeans, a dark green t-shirt and a simple grey jacket as my current fashion choice.

The birds outside were chirping. A warm sunlight lit up the small dust motes in front of the window while the four lightbulbs under the fan illuminated the small pile of bags that was stacked in the opposite corner of the room. If I choose to lift myself back up (in a little bit. 5 more minutes), I would barely be able to make out the edge of my brown leather satchel that peaked behind the closet door.

Yesterday I had moved all my things into Ms. Nunez's house, which consisted of the six plastic bags that I owned. Six plastic bags of stuff (Four of which was just food, and went into the fridge/pantry respectively). Even Ms. Nunez was surprised, though not for the number of items, but because of the lack of travel items. No suitcase, no briefcase, and Fowler handed the new laptop to me right in front of her, along with all the clearly brand new boxes of stuff. Heck even my glasses were new. I wonder what the old lady could be thinking.

And thinking about thinking.

I sat back up and opened a Word document. Well it wasn't _Word_ per say, it was some knock-off, alternate dimension version of it. Nevertheless it was opened. I start out by making bullet points.

Okay things I need to do or learn:

  * How I got here and how to get back? 
    * Storm → TFP universe, stick has something to do with it maybe? Large energy spike.
  * What's with the stick?



When I had woken up this morning, surprise, surprise, I had found the glowy rod in my satchel.

  * Learn how to defend myself
  * Figure out how to use the stick without maybe dying, if I can
  * Make a list of all events? 
    * Risky in case of laptop being stolen, or government surveillance. Maybe into written journal.
  * Make a list of topics I can use for reports. 
    * Also in journal?



That's all I could think of for now. I saved the list, and locked the document file with a password.

My phone buzzed, and I saw a text from Miko

"WAKE UP. WE. ARE. HERE!"

I shut down my laptop and got off the bed, grabbing my satchel and stuffing said laptop inside it on my way out. I left the room, popping into the bathroom to quickly give myself a once over. As I made my way past the living room I saw Ms. Nunez had fallen asleep on the recliner with her late-night knitting in her lap and the TV on. With a smile I turned off the tv, and put away the knitting in the basket next to the chair. Using a pen that was on the side table, I wrote on the back of some ad, that I had went out, but I'd be back by tonight. I left the house, locking the door with my new key.

In front of the house was a big green SUV that honked twice at my exit. I couldn't help the smile as the back door opened, and I hopped in.

"What took you guys so long?" I asked, making sure to pull out the magic rod and throwing it in the back, in which a panel transformed out to swallow the rod to God knew where.

Miko turned around from the front, practically jumping in her seat.

"Rache, you have no idea what I found!" She pulled out a CD case from her bag. "It's a limited edition Smash Monkey Volume 1 CD! I bought it at the music store yesterday! Suuuuuper rare." She waved the case in front of me.

I stared at Miko.

"And when did you get this yesterday, a school day?"

She shrugged in a what-did-I-except-from-her manner, but that wouldn't do. I wasn't going to drop it this time.

"Miko, you can't keep skipping classes, your education is important," I folded my arms.

"Oh no…" Bulkhead grumbled.

"Why is it any of your business? Just wanted to share with you something I thought was awesome is all." She snapped back. "Thought you were cool, guess I was wrong." She rolled her eyes and turned back around a suddenly cold atmosphere radiating off of her.

"I'm just concerned for you"

"You're not my mom."

"No… no you're right I'm not… do you still want to put it on? I'd be interested in hearing it."

"I only want to share my music with people who are cool enough to appreciate it." She glared straight through the window.

I messed up. Damn I messed up. I haven't known Miko long enough for unsolicited concern, I knew how she'd react, but I said it anyway. Damn me. I sighed.

"I'm sorry Miko, you're right, I shouldn't be concerned with things that aren't my business."

The apology didn't fix the mood I'd created.

"Uh, Miko, how about something else then? Scream? Death Metal?" Bulkhead asked, trying to fix the situation.

"I'm not interested anymore. The mood is like, totally killed." She sulked.

"How about you Rachel?" Bulkhead asked tentatively.

"If Miko doesn't want anything we don't have to play anything." I said in a hopefully conciliatory tone.

"Uh...okay then."

Thus passed the entire ride in awkward silence.

16

Almost as soon as we got to the base, Miko was out with the door slammed behind her.

"Ouch, you don't have slam so hard," Bulkhead complained as Miko stomped off.

I get out and start after her a couple steps before stopping. I adjusted my bag, while I waited for Bulkhead to finish transforming behind me. Miko was already halfway up the stairs when she took a deep calming breath before continuing up and greeting Jack and Raf.

I turned around to address Bulkhead directly.

"I think I messed up."

"Yeah no kidding," Bulkhead said, stretching out, my rod in his hands. "Partly on me though, I brought up the same topic before you got in."

"You know Miko better than me, what can I do to make it up to her?"

"Just give her some space, that usually works for me." The large mech shrugged. I.e he had no idea if it would work if I did it, or if that was even the right way to go about it for me.

I looked around for Arcee and the big Boss himself. Ratchet was at his station though. As usual.

"Where's Optimus and Arcee?" I ask.

"Off to scout a possible Energon deposit. They should be back soon."

Okay, I guess.

"Any updates I should know Ratchet?" I address to the white and red bot. He scoffs.

"A bit busy at the moment. But to your question no. I haven't had time to continue on that project, but I did manage to build a highly fortified field-" He had slightly turned to address me when he noticed what Bulkhead holds in his hands.

Me and Bulkhead glanced at each other, then back to the confused and exasperated Ratchet.

"But- but I didn't even realize…" He turned around to quickly pull up what I assumed were meant to be security measures for the artifact holding area. "None of the sensors even - !" He topped himself and let out an exasperated sigh.

"A failure then." He said frustrated.

"Something is bound to work eventually right?" I try to console. He was adamant that the thing wouldn't get away from him yesterday, and that his plan would work. He had explained to me his theory that the rod was somehow sensing my biosignature (whatever that means) and if it went out of a certain range, it would transport itself (how was still not clear). His solution was thus to put up some device that would supposedly mimic that signature and thus prevent it from leaving the base. He also decided that adding security measures (whether to keep me or others out was unclear) could also prevent it from transporting. I wonder how long it took him to set all that up, and just for it end up being a waste of time. Yeesh, he didn't even seem angry, just... well frustrated at the situation, and wait, was that concern? 

"Hmm..." He answers noncommittally. I must have imagined it.

Just then, a comm from Optimus was received to reopen the ground bridge, and Ratchet's attention shifted back to the controls.

"I can take it back there," I turn to offer Bulkhead.

'Back there' being the hanger that was meant to hold the rod. I never did mention how I had managed to get the thing last time, I think everyone just assumed it teleported to me again. Thus, I was curious if the maintenance door was still open.

"No, I better do it. All the alarms would have to be disabled. It's just a pain." He groaned. So off Bulkhead went to put the stick back into its hole for however long it would last this time.

As I moved to start walking up the stairs the bridge portal opens, and the engines and the distant and distorted sound of transforming could be heard from the two bots well before they could be seen. I managed to get to the top and was greeted by Jack and Raf with a "hey" by Jack and a smile and head nod by Raf.

"Prime!" An all too familiar Agent's voice suddenly yelled from the comms. He seemed to do a lot of yelling whenever he commed. It would be funny if it didn't usually follow some adventure or other. And that was on or off-show continuity in my experience so far.

I walk over to the walkway on the left to have a better view of the large green screen in front of Ratchet (thank you new glasses!). I fold my arms on the rails in front of me. The video feed currently had a very irate Fowler glaring through. Which really could mean anything.

Arcee and Optimus who had just come out from the bridge walked toward the screen.

"Special agent Fowler? To what do we owe -"

"What else? 'Cons!"

Oooooo! More adventure awaits. I notice the background surroundings of Fowler's feed to feature him strapped into a seat with controls and a glass overhead.

"Is he in a plane?" I lean over to my right and quietly ask Jack.

All three of them had joined me to see what was happening. Raf was on my left, peering through a gap in the metal as he was too small to see over. Jack was on my right, with Miko next to him, one hand loosely holding onto the rails.

"Yeah, I think so." Jack answers as he folds his arms.

"I chased them off with some hard ordinance, but not before they blew me out of the sky." Fowler continues.

Miko chuckles _, "_ Again?"

Again? When did that happen?

"They tried a smash-and-grab for the D.N.G.S." On screen Fowler accentuated his words by grabbing and closing fist.

"TheWhat's it?" Arcee confused, asks on behalf of everybody.

"Dynamic nuclear generation system, AKA, D.N.G.S."

Fowler pushed some switch from his side and a picture of the item was transferred and replaced him on the display screen. The picture showed a simple box with straps holding it down.

"It's a prototype energy source I'm porting to the coast for testing."

Oh… oh I know this. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know this. It was time for another episode already. I thought I would have more time. Last episode was the doppelganger one, and that ended… 2 days ago. Good God, that couldn't be right. Yet it was. I wasn't going to be able to keep up with the pace of events at this rate. Yet time moves on.

Ratchet scoffed. "That's absurd. Why would Starscream bother with such primitive technology?"

"I'm guessing to make a big fat primitive weapon of mass destruction." The display had returned to show him. He folded his arms in front of him, his first real sign of worry.

"If this baby were to melt down, it would irradiate this state and the four next door."

Raf gulped. "Uhmmm...Did agent Fowler say what state he was currently in?"

What Raf was implying hit Miko then as she looked shocked.

"I'm a sitting duck here, Prime. I need you to spin up your bridge and send the DINGUS to its destination before the 'cons come back for it."

"I'm afraid that sending such a volatile device through a ground bridge is out of the question. If there were to be an accident during its transmission, the radiation of which you speak could propagate through the ground bridge vortex and harm all 50 states... And beyond." Optimus replied, his tone solemn.

"You got any better ideas?" Fowler opened up to suggestions.

Optimus considered thoughtfully.

"We could transport this device by vehicular mode, could we not?"

"What? A road trip? Bor-ing!" Miko slumped forward.

Raf on the other hand perked up. This was, after all, an area he could contribute in, helping Ratchet monitor the team.

"A road trip with possible Decepticons Miko," reminded Jack.

"Ooo! So hopefully we'll get some action!" She perked up and began mock punching the air.

"It's not for entertainment Miko, they could get hurt," I said. She frowned at me, and turned back to the bots.

Right, still upset with me. Noted.

The bots set out to prepare.

17

I watch with everyone else as the blue blinking dots travel down the yellow line representing the road on the large green cybertronian screen. The set up was actually pretty nice. There was, of course, Ratchets set up near the ground bridge controls, with the main tracking screen seemingly floating from nothing mind you. In front of that screen though was a walkway big enough for us humans to be able to see what was going on. To the right was Raf's set up. He had Cybertronian data screens lining the wall, as well as his own laptop out on a simple plastic desk. 

Internally, away from the action (or current lack of it) on the screen my mind was racing.

This was the same episode MECH is introduced, the terrorist tech organization that was run by the evil Silas. What did that entail, for now at least? Fowler for sure wasn't shot down by Decepicons, but instead by that group. MECH wanted the DINGUS for their own nefarious purposes, and if all goes as it did in the episode, they don't get it.

Damn it Rachel, remember!

Okay, okay, so the Autobots are driving and they get attacked at some point by Silas and his gang. Then something happens that forces the kids to get involved. Then...then, no wait, I think the Decepticons do eventually get involved, but that wasn't the focus of this episode.

I think this episode was actually okay. The humans aren't involved much just the Bots. This episode should just be an introduction to MECH. As long as I didn't alter anything, it should be fine. Everything barely turned out fine, and no one was seriously injured.

Then again, my track record for remembering that stuff hasn't been the best so far.

Assuming that was true though, that couldn't be said if I choose to interfere here. Really, what information could I give to improve the situation? Tell them about MECH? I didn't know much about MECH, not at all except to be scared of them. Even if I did warn them, it wouldn't change the fact that they still need to get the DINGUS (I can't get over that name) to the dropoff location safely.

For once I didn't feel anxious about an episode. Maybe this could even be fun!

"We are locked on to your coordinates, Optimus." Ratchet informed through comms.

Jack is watching while tapping his arm, as though awaiting the action, Mio and Raf are staring at the screen as well. 

"Barring any complications, you should reach the dropoff point by sundown." Ratchet continued. Miko yawns.

This was boring so far. Still, here I was, trying to keep a neutral expression as I scrambled through my mind to find some association that might jog my memory for the missing bits of the episode. What if I was completely off and someone does get hurt?

"Hey, no worries," Jack whispers and elbow nudges me.

I tried to give back a confident smile, and Jack's eyes suddenly became concerned. Oh no.

"What's wrong?"

Oh no. I was trying to avoid that question. Clear fail at that attempt. But maybe I should say something after all? Maybe like, casually and coolly pointing out that it doesn't make sense that the Decpticons would leave Fowler and the asset untouched if they had really shot down the plane. But then what if the changes made things worse? I knew this would turn out fine, so what was the harm in staying out of the plots way?

Not knowing what to say I shrugged.

"Nothing."

I turned to go towards our little couch and TV set up, opening up the fridge to see what there was to distract me.

If I _were_ to aid, where would my input even be useful in this situation? This wasn't against the Con's, these were humans. What did I know about MECH anyway?

Well, there's Silas. Ex-military, in fact most (all?) those working for him seem ex-military. After this they get interested in the Cybertronians and in trying to replicate them, eventually leading to Breakdowns death and Silas merging with his frame. Ugh, I think I just got chills.

"That's the one! The 'con who shot me down! Who is he? Wingnut? Dingbat _Cooko-hands_? Skyguy?" Fowlers voice came from the open comms. His list of theoretically Con name usually would have given me a chuckle except for my now heightened concern.

"Watch your rearviews." Bulkhead warned the Autobot group right after.

Here we go.

"What?" Jack's voice said. "Why can't we see them? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, I want to finally see some action!" Miko's voice said.

I turned back around with a soda of some kind and joined the kids and Ratchet, now on alert. Sure enough there were no Decepticon anythings on the screen. Well if that didn't confirm it.

"What are we supposed to be seeing?" I asked the room. Decepticons are supposed to be purple dots I think.

"Feeling a little constricted without the use of my fists here, boss." Bulkheads voiced his concern.

"Remain in vehicular mode unless absolutely necessary." Optimus ordered.

Raf ran over to his set up so that he and Ratchet could both look at their respective screens, both running what was probably diagnostic checks on their systems.

"A whole team of 'cons." Fowler confirmed.

"I checked my systems, everything's working. Why can't we see them?" Raf asked in confusion.

"What?" Ratchet's optics roll all over the map. "I'm not picking up anything." He begins to stroke his chin. "They must be utilizing a cloaking technology." No. No Ratchet, not even close, but I couldn't blame him. I bit my lip. Suddenly an idea hit me.

"Can you track near by cars that aren't Cybertronian? As in show all the vehicles currently on the road?" I asked.

"I think I can. Though it would only be within a certain radius." Raf nodded and began to quickly type. Ratchet rolled his optics.

"And how exactly would that help?" Ratchet folded his arms and raised a… metal bridge? Eye brow metal? I still don't know what to call that, but he was skeptical. When was he ever not though?

"Oh, uh, well because I have a suspicion that these aren't Cons" I admitted. I made my choice. I was going to tell them. Having more information could only help them. This was my chance to show myself useful. Yeah, it probably wouldn't make any difference in this specific situation, but if not, at least I can help clear some confusion.

Raf managed to do something that showed the vehicles on the road. 5 white blips now showed on the large screen. 3 boxing in Bulkhead, 1 right next to Optimus, and another one right in front of Bee.

Ratchet looked surprised. He was about to reply to me when more comms came in.

"Well, I'll be dipped!" We hear Fowler exclaim.

"Our assailants are not Decepticons...They are human" Optimus informs.

Raf and Jack look at each other in surprise.

" Human?!" They both exclaimed before looking over to me.

Miko put a hand on her hip and rolled her hand.

"Oh, please. Taking on our bots?" She motioned to the screen and pumped her fist back towards her. The message she was trying to convey being that the threat was easy to deal with, and of little concern. "They're roadkill!"

"Is that what you meant Rachel?" Ratchet questioned me, still shocked.

"Yeah… I think it's MECH."

"MECH?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, think terrorists who steal the latest, greatest weaponry they can. A super tech terrorist group, if you will."

Ratchet scoffed.

"Like Earth technology would make much of a threat."

I turned to look him in the optics.

"It would if they got a hold of any cybertronian tech." I turned back around to watch the screen. "Anyway, Fowler's right. You don't need anything high tech to cause some serious damage."

Just then, the Optimus blip swerved to knock into the white blip next to him, knocking the assailant off and swerving. An explosion notification replaced the former blip.

"Who are these guys?" Fowler asks on comms. Ratchet reached over to turn on the comms from our side.

"Rachel has just informed us the assailants are likely a pro-technology terrorist group called MECH." He turned to me, "Am I correct in assuming this knowledge comes from your... previous experience?" What? Did he not want to say fiction? Then again, I suppose it is awkward. I nodded anyway.

"First I've heard of them" Fowler grumbled lowly, but still audibly.

"Autobots, maintain your cover and apply minimal force. Disarmament only." The Prime instructed.

Another of the blips moved from Bulkhead's side to try to aim toward Bee while going past Optimus. Bee slowed down to crash and push against the aggressor, the move shook the assailant off for a second before they reoriented themselves and the blip pulled back up and slammed against Bee. Bee must have managed to push back harder though because the white blip suddenly swerved and hit a rock off the road and stayed there. Assumingly disabled.

Optimus and the bots swerved sharply and they sped up on the narrow and twisting road. We hear the gagging noises of Fowler over communications. I really didn't need to know that.

"Could use some air." Fowler said, sounding sick.

On the screen, one of the white blips comes around to the side of Optimus again.

"One of them got onto Optimus!" Bulkhead informs.

"They're trying to get the trailer to detach" I commented. We were all riveted to the screen as we awaited anxiously.

Suddenly, Optimus veers to the side, managing to hit the white dot him, which causes the car to careen down the mountain side, and off what the screen could track.

"Fowler is now attempting to stop the human assailant." Optimus informs everyone.

"I never thought I'd say this, but go Fowler!" Jack comments.

"Beat that guy up Fowler!" Miko pumps her fist up.

There's silence on the radio for a moment.

"Did he win?" Miko asks.

"Uhh, no Miko," Ratchet shakes his head. "Fowler lost him."

"Lost him? What does that mean?" Jack asks.

"The assailant... apparently fell off the side."

"Yikes." Miko says.

Suddenly an unknown signal joined on the screen.

"I do hope you take better care of the DINGUS than you do your captives." The voice was gruff, low and authoritative. Clearly military.

"Silas…" I whispered under my breath. It was so quite in the base and everyone was close though, so I was pretty sure I was heard by everyone in the room.

"Special agent William Fowler here. Identify yourself!" Fowler demanded.

"I am Silas. But of greater consequence to you, we are MECH. Fair warning - We will be helping ourselves to your device, even if it means inflicting casualties."

"Is that so? Tell me, Si, what's the market price for a DINGUS these days?"

"What makes you think we intend to sell it, Agent Fowler?"

The scenery changed on the map as the group finally made their way out of the mountain pass. Less rocks, more trees and more open ground.

"There's a war brewing between the new world order and the newest. The victor will be the side armed with the most innovative technology." Silas continued.

Another of the white dots moved behind Optimus, and a warning on the screen informed us that some sort of electrical current had caused the door holding the back shut to fail. The trailer was open.

"So, Si...You think MECH has all the most radical tech?"

The blue dot of Arcee jumps out of the trailer and knocks the car back. The white dot tumbled behind Bulkhead, and crashed right into his own ally. Another notification from the system informed us an explosion had occurred behind the group.

"Later, Si." Fowler taunted as Silas' communication disconnected.

Ratchet looked down at the panel below him, as he began working on something. The environment on the screen started to become narrower, as the openness became confined. They were moving down towards some type of valley.

"Optimus, prepare to initiate phase 2." Ratchet looked back up to the large screen to track the group's movement. "Five miles ahead, to the South, you will reach the rendezvous point."

There was a pause in communication as everyone reoriented themselves for phase 2.

"Now that there's a slight lull, care to fill us in on what you know about these guys Rachel?" Fowler asks.

I turn towards Ratchet first, and then Raf, who motions me towards him. I do and then grip the back of his chair as I look at his laptop screen. He had the comms on too, and, relevant for me, a microphone.

"Not much to say that wasn't just given away or you couldn't already guess. His name is Silas, very likely him and everyone under him is ex-military. Wants tech, the newest, latest, and best weapons, and he doesn't take no for an answer. Only thing I can add is to warn not, under **any** circumstances, do you want these guys getting their hands on Cybertronian technology or get their hands on any of the Bots. Not unless they want these guy to do some serious harm with new weapons or to find themselves on a dissection table. And they **will** now want to dig up information on the Bots, make no mistake about that."

"Great just what we need. More enemies," Arcee grumbled.

The Autobots are now winding through a valley, a train track on their right and the rock face on their left.

"There's our destination point."

There should be two tunnels up ahead of them, one for the trains and another for vehicles, at least, that's what Raf had told the group earlier. Suddenly three more white dots appear not far behind the group.

"More of them?" Jack says from the big screen on the left, surprised.

"They're not going to give up that easy Jack." I inform him, moving slightly away from Raf. I pull up a chair next to him so I wasn't leaning over him to see his screen.

I watch as the blip that was Arcee moved to the front next to Bee.

"Autobots, keep a tight formation." Optimus orders.

Arcee goes first, turning off of the yellow line designating the road on the screen and down into the depressed land made for the trains. Then, Optimus, Bee, and finally Bulkhead drive down the slope. A train passes right next to them.

The white dots unfortunately follow the group, telling us those cars were indeed part of MECH. The autobots move to pass into the tunnel alongside the train. Despite the tunnel, the blue Autobot signals still appeared normally on the large screen. As the rest of the team went on ahead, Bulkhead swerved around and transformed, mere moments later we hear the sound of crumbling over the comms, telling us the tunnel entrance collapsed. And indeed, the white dots could no longer be registered on the tracking screen. The green giant transformed back into vehicle mode and catched up with the others. Arcee jumps enters the open back of the trailer. Bumblebee transforms and run-jumps onto a train car.

The train eventually comes out of the tunnel, with the Autobots next to it. Just as this occurs, 6 flashing purple dots appear on the map coming in from the bottom right.

Ratchet hurriedly open comms on our side.

"Optimus, you have company!"

The planes fire missiles at the group, represented by lines shooting from the purple dots at the Autobots.

Optimus thankfully swerves sharply, allowing the trailer behind him to detach (or so the screen notification informs us). He lost the weight just in time too, as the missiles hit just where they were, destroying (exploding) the trailer.

"Decepticons now too?!" Jack grips his head. Ah, so that explains what Decepticons look like on the map. 

"Not good. They're heading towards a deadend!" Raf exclaims.

The 6 Eradicons transform once they are close to the ground behind the Autobots. The Autobots did indeed reach a dead end at the edge of a cliff. They had them trapped.

"They need to transform and fight back!" Miko says.

If they do that then MECH will know about the Autobots. All that comes afterwards in their search will become set in stone. But what could we do from here? Anyway, Fowler had ensured Silas' interest with his taunting.

Optimus transforms, then the other Autobots transform the screen informs us.

"Crush them Bulkhead!" Miko jumps.

Here. Here I could do something. I know how this connects. I look over to Ratchet.

"Ratchet, Silas is going to follow the train. He's still going to go after the DINGUS." I shook my head. "God, I'm never going to take that name seriously" I whispered under my breath, aloud this time.

The second phase had consisted of transferring the DINGUS onto a military train shipment where Fowler had arranged a drop-off. From there the dangerous weapon would go back into military hands and head where it was needed. Fowler had informed us that there would be someone to monitor the asset, but it would largely be leaving and arriving to it's desitnation alone. Meaning it was currently vulnerable.

"So we need to think of something, quick." Jack agreed. He walks over and clutches the back of Raf's chair, and turns to Miko, and then back at the screen mind scrambling.

"You mean like a phase 3?" Raf looks up at Jack questioningly, worry in his voice.

"Okay." He turns around and starts pacing back and forth. "Come on, think...All right, if MECH wants the DINGUS, they have to get on that train." He points at the large tracking screen.

"What if we get on board first?" Miko suggests with too much gusto. She pumps her fists in front of her in mock punching. "You know, run some human-on-human interference?"

"Absolutely not!" Ratchet shoots down immediately.

"Yeah, that would be suicide." Jack agrees.

"It's better than doing nothing" I add.

As we argue, Fowler's voice comes over the comms.

"Prime! Silas got wise to phase 2!"

"I understand." An exerted Optimus responds.

Suddenly, and unexpectedly, Optimus is knocked back on the tracking screen, right off of the cliff. We all watch as he falls, and as he goes health warnings flash on the screen. He's down. Optimus is down and the Autobots are surrounded, still fighting.

Worry and panic shoots through us all now. Unlike everyone else though, guilt seeps through me too.

No one gets hurt huh Rachel? Great recall skills there!

"Optimus is down!" Miko actually sounds freaked out now.

"MECH's gonna grab the DINGUS." Jack repeats my prior warning, but this time with much more panic in his voice.

"We could delay them. Just long enough for Optimus and everyone to help," I say. Just delay. Delay is something I could definitely help do.

"No! You're not going, and that's final." Ratchet tried to shut us down.

"Helloooo," Miko rolls her eyes and puts her hands on her hips. _"_ The United States of **meltdown**!" She waves a hand towards the screen and glares at Ratchet. _"_ Lives are at stake!"

"Yes - Yours!" He angrily begins. "You want me to not only bridge you into a confined space, but one traveling at 90 miles per hour!? I can't even count the number of ways that can go wrong. Mass-displacement trauma, twisted limbs, metal burn…"

We all stare at him.

"Well, maybe not the last one." He corrects.

He shakes his head. "Regardless, it is nearly impossible to fix ground-bridge coordinates on something moving at that speed."

Raf looks like he just had an idea. He's already typing something into his laptop.

"Would it help if we had access to the train's coordinates?" Raf asks as he looks back up to the green display screen, now updated to show the trains coordinates in yellow.

"Well…"

Ratchet can't think of another excuse, can he?

"Me, and Jack can go -" I start before Miko jumps in.

"I'm coming with."

"Bu -" Miko runs past me, and is already down the stairs. I stare after her with a frown.

"You get used to it" He consoles me, nodding in Miko's direction. Raf began to explain how communication was going to work.

"Wha-I did not agree-" Ratchet begins. Jack turns to face and stare down the medic, a surprising burst of courage from the teen.

"Please Ratchet. Rachel's right, we can delay them just until the other's can interfere."

I take this brief moment to turn and run down the stairs as fast as I can. Jack and Raf will handle communications and convincing Ratchet. I have to quickly grab a specific stick to whack some techies.

Who'd have thought I'd come to _not_ absolutely despise the strange object.

I run down corridor after corridor, turn after turn, until, completely out of breath, I reach the maintenance door from fake Autobot/Con event. I go to open it, and behold! It still does open! I go in, avoid the dead scraplet, avoid the pipes and wires sticking out, and finally open the last door. Into the room with my stick.

Will it play fetch this time around? I think it should, if my theories on how it works are correct. I mean, I feel pretty panicked and desperate right now, if that counts for anything. Or maybe that's just the exhaustion of running all the way here.

In the middle of my musings I failed to realize that Ratchet must have seen I was here, because suddenly the lights turned on, and then a bunch of humming I hadn't payed much attention to powered down, and finally, a ladder that led right up to the artifact suddenly released. The sudden noise was so startling I may have shrieked. Just a bit.

Anyway, I wasn't going to complain. Up I go. 

I climb up. Surrounding the rod this time was a bunch of strange barriers and device that made the hair on my arm stand up. I waited a moment, before these too were shut down.

"Thank you Ratchet!" I yelled out to the general room hoping there was some type of microphone in here.

I grabbed the cool surfaced rod and hummed a bit, as I carefully came back down. Just as I came to the bottom, the garage door opened.

I rushed through, getting back out into the hallway, before running all the way back to the main hangar.

As I rushed in, I saw Ratchet had already started up the bridge and Miko and Jack waited for me.

"What took so long?" Miko yelled as I rushed over to them.

As I reached them, a strong shiver pulled down my spine and a deep discomfort passed through me, before I managed to suppress and ignore my brain’s pressing demand for me to back away from the swirling portal. I stopped and took deep breaths as I tried to calm my beating heart and calm my nerves. Instead of saying anything (currently not possible), I showed them the rod to explain my absence. Jack nodded, a nervous expression on his face, while Miko gave two thumbs up.

"You could have _asked_ before rushing to just grab it." Ratchet chastised.

"Sorry...Time...Quickly." I managed to breath out.

The medic shook his head in disgust. Or maybe that was annoyance. Can't tell the difference with him if I was being honest.

"Now go! Quickly, before I change my mind and actually consider reason." Ratchet dismissed us without so much as a look back.

"Good luck!" Raf called out from his desk on the second floor.

"Let's go." I nodded to the ground bridge.

We rushed down the whirling bright blue-green-white- was that some red? Shiver after shiver pulsed down my spine, as I tried to ignore my surroundings.

_ Stop looking Rachel, you're going to become nauseous. _

Right yes, but it just hit me now that this was the first time going through the ground-bridge on my own two feet, and only the second time I'd gone through it at all (and the first I'd fallen asleep).

The feeling was bizarre. As we ran, the vortex seemed to stretch and bend around us, yet the white pathway underneath us stayed steady and, as far as I could tell, straight.

I almost started to falter just so I could look around, before the urgency of our mission hit me again and I managed to refocus.

The vortex warped again as a blindingly bright light and a reverberating whump sound reverberated around us. We were suddenly and forcefully expelled.

I hit the hard surface on my side, the air in my lungs forced out in pain.

"Ugh" I groaned.

I wasn't the only one though, Miko and Jack also seemed to be recovering from our forceful exit.

"Does it always feel like this?" I asked.

"No." Jack groaned without elaborating.

The portal closed behind us with a warping whoosh sound. I blindly felt around for my glasses and the rod that had fallen out of my hands. I quickly found my glasses, before I checked to find the rod in my back pocket strangely (or not so strangely perhaps with this thing). We all carefully stood back up, and I took a look around. The cart was small, and currently too dark. I waited for my eyes to adjust.

Jack must have called Raf because he started talking.

"We're in." He informed.

"I read you, Jack." The voice of Raf came out of the small flip-phone speakers. The cellphone-comlink patch seems to work.

With my eyes now slowly adjusting, I looked around. Sunlight was coming from the edges of the slide door on the right reflecting on the dust motes we had disturbed when we entered. The train cart was a simple metal box. In front of us was the asset (I'm not calling it DINGUS), still strapped down, and apparently secure. On the floor, knocked out, was a man dressed in green military gear.

I went to check his pulse, just as the sound of a helicopter could be heard above us. We all turn to look at each other in surprise.

We must have gotten here just in time then.

Jack goes to open the sliding door, the sudden brightness of daylight flooding my vision. I looked out as Jack and Miko peaked out and up above us. The door opened to a blurring pass of a desert rock face. We must still be in the valley then. I focused back on the soldier as I checked his pulse. It was slow, but steady. I struggle as I turn him on his side and try to shake him awake with no luck other than a mumbled "mommy". The guy was seriously passed out.

"Raf, MECH's landing on top of the train." He has to shout into the phone to be heard over the roaring of the train and wind.

"In about 20 seconds, you're gonna come to a fork. Brace yourself." He warns.

"Get back in, away from the open door!" I shout to Miko and Jack. Jack at least heard, because he quickly pulled Miko to the wall of the cart, just as I managed to drag the soldier toward the wall as well. I braced.

The train sharply swerved to the left, severely jostling the cart. I barely managed to keep upright as the train leveled again. Hopefully this would buy us a few more minutes before they could land. I resteadied myself and looked over to Jack and Miko. They were fine.

"What?" Raf's voice came from the speakers. Before I could ask Raf what had happened, the sound of an approaching helicopter quickly returned.

Well that distraction didn't last long apparently. The helicopter must have quickly managed to circle back. Jack and Miko went over to the door again to look up.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"They're landing again." Jack said frustrated.

We all heard the sound of touch down near us. But what was surprising was the sparks that began to fly as someone from the above began cutting into our cart not even a few seconds later.

"Huh." Jack said surprised. "So, what'd that buy us? 10 seconds?"

"Raf is losing his touch." Miko agreed.

"Don't be so harsh. These guys are really tough." I defended.

Either way it was up to us to stall for now. We readied ourselves for whoever was going to come down. The square hole was almost complete. Miko turned around behind her and grabbed an axe that was hanging from a wall that I hadn't noticed earlier. Realizing he needed a weapon too, Jack reached around to grab the last thing available, a fire extinguisher against the same wall. He held it bottom up, which would be funny except the circumstances. I pulled out the rod and held it in front of me. The thing grew slightly, but that was it. I tried to imgine it turn into a bat like last time, but it stayed in its extended stick form.

I want you to work, you don't work. I don't care if you work, and you do work. I hate this thing.

The square piece of metal fell with a thud. Above us the blue sky was revealed. 3 black clad dudes peered over the hole to show their faces. Well okay, not their faces, they were completely covered. Black jacket, belt, high collared shirts, mask, and goggles prevented any recognizable feature from being known about them. But they most certainly could see us clearly.

"You want a slice of this?" Miko wielded the axe in front of her and threatened. "Well, do ya?!" She swung down and attempted to lower her voice to try to sound more threatening. All she really managed to do is cause Jack and me to back a little more away from her so as not to be dismembered by accident.

Seeing Miko's courage, Jack pointed the base of the fire extinguisher at them.

"What she said."

I narrowed my eyes at them.

"You should listen to her, she's crazy dangerous" I nodded in Miko's direction.

All three of them looked at each other, probably because they didnt know what to do. But I'm going to lie to myself and say it's because their scared of us. Yep. Totally the reason why. I'm not scared, I've faced Decepticons, Scraplets, and a Con spy. Bring it... maybe.

And one of the guys is staring at me, and it's making me uncomfortable. He took out some device and looked down at it. He stiffens.

Surprisingly and suddenly, the three soldiers turn around. The sound of the helicopter leaving followed soon after. They left as quickly as they came. We all ran over to the open cart door to watch as the helicopter really did disappear down the valley in front of us.

"Whoa." Miko says gripping onto Jack's arm to lean out without falling. "You're pretty fierce." She complemented Jack. I looked over and I couldn't help but laugh.

"You were pretty cool Miko," I grinned. She looked over to me surprised, but then a giant smile lit up her face.

"I was pretty cool," She agreed.

"Guess it's over." I sighed relieved. Crisis averted. Now Rachet would bridge us back, or the Autobots would pick us up. We'd get lectured, but all would be well.

Almost as soon as I thought that, a fizzle sound from up ahead echoed over to us, followed by a definitive and shaking boom. The red explosion and smoke leaving no doubt to me on what had just occurred.

The tracks in front of the train were now destroyed.

"WHOA!" Miko gripped Jacks arm tighter as the cart slightly shook at the impact. My eyes widened as I turned to Jack.

"You need to get them to open the ground bridge."

Jack turns back into the cart to speak into his phone.

"Ratchet, MECH blew the train tracks." He grips his hair. "You need to bridge us out of here - The soldier, too." Jack demaded.

Miko looked around worriedly, awful death by train was likely not what she had in mind with this plan, and neither did I.

"We've lost access to the train data! I can't bridge you back without your coordinates!" Ratchet yelled through the speakers.

At hearing this Jack let his phone drop down with his arm. Miko gripped Jack's arm, they both looked at me with fear.

"Maybe you can make it into something?" Jack suggested, obviously referencing the glowly stick.

I shook my head.

"I… I don't know how to…"

If I could somehow control the thing I could maybe make it into something useful to get us out of this situation, but as it stood, I didn't know how to. I try to focus, clear out my surroundings to concentrate. I tried to place all my attention onto the rod.

"Maybe we should jump." Miko suggested.

"At 90 miles an hour?" He questioned the crazy suggestion.

"It's the impact or the meltdown. Take your pick. Unless Rache here can get her cool stick to do magic for us." She shrugged in a these-are-the-choices way.

Jack groaned. "What were we thinking, volunteering for this?"

"We were thinking we'd be able to stop a terrorist organization from acquiring a weapon of mass destruction." I answered his question literally. "Which we were successful in."

"Not that it'll mean much" Jack replies.

"Next time, you need to do a better job of talking us **out** of these situations." Miko recommended Jack, half joking, half serious.

"Next time…" He says somberly.

Forget this. What was the point of having this thing stuck to me if there was nothing I could do with it when it really mattered? I need danger? I have danger. My friends are in danger! I just need to concentrate, right? Was it not working because there wasn't a physical threat?

"We can buy ourselves another few seconds if we're in the back of the train, right?" Miko leaned out of the cart a bit to look at the back.

I shake the stick, then I close my eyes. I try to imagine it elongating. It should be simple enough compared to the other crazy stuff it could do.

Now, hocus pocus, alakazam, I open my eyes and it should now be elongating. I open my eyes.

It's not elongating. It's not doing anything.

"At least we're in this together." Jack said, resigned.

Miko walks towards Jack and snatches his phone from him.

"Raf, this is **important**!" She hesitates, emotion overwhelms her. "Make sure bulkhead gets my guitar."

As they both lean out of the cart, a familiar red semi-truck passes by them. Miko and Jack look at each other before looking over at me and smiling.

"Don't read the will just yet." Jack said looking back to Miko before they both looked towards the front of the train. I went over to join them.

Optimus transformed mid-velocity, finally reaching the front of the train. He grabs onto it and diggs his feet in, trying to stop the train's momentum by sheer will and power. Underneath us the cart rocks violently. Gravel and dust is thrown back toward us as the train continues forward at the increased friction. The screeching of metal was painful enough to make your ears bleed, as sparks from the tracks and the force backwards caused intense friction.

Optimus was struggling with exertion as he tried to pull backwards and dig his feet in. The train was slowing, but would it be able to stop completely in time? The blast site was within view already, the smoke billowing round Optimus obscuring him from our view.

This was it. I closed my eyes and braced myself, as Miko and Jack held onto the side of the door for dear life. A great rumbling and shaking occurred as I braced. It felt like my whole body was on vibrate. Even my hands felt like they were burning on the stick.

The screeching finally stopped, as the whole train jostled to a halt. Here we go, the halt before the end.

"Rachel."

This was it. Good-bye, it's been a good run. Wished I could have said my good-bye's to my family too, but in my heart would have to do.

"Rachel!"

I opened my eyes then to see an ecstatic Jack and Miko.

"He did it Rachel. Optimus did it!" Jack exclaimed.

Huh?

But of course he did. Miko and Jack aren't supposed to end here. What was I thinking?

"And look what you did!"

I looked where Jack was pointing and to my great surprise, the rod was now retracting from a clearly made path through the ground outside of the cart. I looked to my right and found the path went for a mile.

My hands were shaking.

I looked at the rod in my hand and frowned.

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" I asked it, not expecting any answers. Ignoring the frustration that it didn't work when I wanted it to, I turned to Miko.

"Miko! Optimus did it!" I laughed. She beamed.

Said Prime turned to look at us as we waved, the DINGUS within was safe as well with a cursory glance. Suddenly though, the sound of a helicopter above us caught the Autobot leader, staying there for a moment, watching, before it flew away.

Screw Silas.

Optimus must have just received a message from a very worried Ratchet as his attention focused on his comms.

"Hey!" Jack complained as Miko unexpectedly punched him in excitement. Jack flinches in pain.

"What the?!" Jack complains to Miko. She smiles at him and raises her hand for a high-five, to which he gladly gives and smiles too.

Miko then turns to me before looking away, and rubbing her arm awkwardly. She seems to consider me for a moment before she brings up a fist, and I quickly (shaking hands and friction burned or not) bumped it with a smile.

Reconciliation then. Thank you fate. Also screw you fate.

I was ready for a nap after all that excitement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the most recent chapter! From here on the end notes will be relevant to Archive. 
> 
> Kudos, and comments would be appreciated, you can even do so as a guest!
> 
> Bookmarking or subscribing to the story is the best way to stay updated.
> 
> Next chapter is the aftermath of this mission.


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